Silver
by mypseudonym
Summary: When Hermione's home is attacked by Death Eaters she barely manages to escape. Mentally bound to her Animagus form, she soon finds herself a pet to a certain Potions Master. A story of how Hermione finds herself once again.
1. Chapter 1

Silver- mypseudonym

AN: I started this story as a response to SheriLovingLecter's Vixen about a year ago. Her story is brilliant, and I suggest you go read it after you read mine, of course. Anyway, our stories started from similar bunnies, but they are going off in very different directions. I hope you enjoy this.

Chapter 1 The Attack

Hermione Granger decided to spend the summer after her Hogwarts graduation staying with her parents. She hadn't really been able to be with them much in the last few years because she was always hurried off to the Weasley's or to Grimmauld Place. True, Dumbledore didn't approve of her being within her parents' home even now.

Hermione wasn't dumb. She knew that the war was getting worse. She could see it in the faces of the Order members she came across. She could read a little about it in various papers- wizarding and Muggle alike. She, however, was a fairly well trained witch in matters of defense. Sure she wasn't an Auror, and she wasn't even a member of the Order yet, but she'd bought and learned spells from several defensive magic books. She also just so happened to have been the best in her year. Her plan was to place a wide array of protective charms on the property before she left in the fall. She'd even placed a few charms when she arrived.

Hermione awoke one night having felt the wards activate. This happened anytime someone or something crossed the property line. It was late, so Hermione didn't really want to go check it out. She'd already surveyed the property twelve times that day due to the post man, a neighbor kid selling something, another neighbor coming for tea, and a variety of animals crossing through the back yard. She couldn't just ignore it though, so she blearily climbed out of bed, grabbing her wand off the night table.

When she was just about to leave her basement bedroom, she heard the footsteps upstairs. Intruders it was then. Hermione could have kicked herself for not getting up sooner. They moved quickly. Hermione moved silently from her room to the top of the stairs. Here she crouched and listened, knowing they wouldn't be able to see her, but she could hear them if they were on the main floor.

She heard someone coming down from the second floor.

"Well?" a voice, Lucius Malfoy's asked impatiently.

"The Muggles are dead, sir."

"Well done Nott."

Another man with heavier footfalls came downstairs.

"It appears that the Mudblood is not here." the third man reported.

"What do you mean, not here?" Lucius asked.

"I searched every room up there. One bedroom contained the parents, the others were vacant."

"No, she's here somewhere. Did you feel it when we came in? There were wards on this house. The spells would have alerted her if someone crossed the property line." Lucius snarled.

"She could have left." the second man suggested.

"Dammit Mulcibar. She's not going to leave her Muggle parents sleeping in a house she knows is being attacked by Death Eaters. The girl's a Gryffindor. Mangy lions never think of themselves first." Lucius snarled. "No, she's probably hiding from us. Find her. Search every nook and cranny of this house. We'll burn this place to the ground if we must."

Hermione's parents were dead. She knew if Death Eaters came upon them they would be killed instantly if they were lucky. Now though, Hermione had to figure out how to leave the house. She had placed a ward so that you couldn't apparate directly onto the property. She would have to get over the property line before she could do that. Hermione crept quickly but very quietly back to the basement. She found her way in the dark to the back door, opening it and praying to whoever was listening that it didn't squeak. It didn't.

She transformed quickly. She'd become an Animagus during her final year of school as a personal project. She researched it thoroughly and completed all the necessary exercises in the privacy of her Head Girl quarters. She had managed to achieve an animal state in the spring. It would come in handy now, as her animal form was smaller, darker, and swifter than she. She ran out of the house and sprinted for the woods just beyond the back yard. They would offer her the best cover. Midway across the yard though, she was hit with a spell, a full body bind by the looks of it. She was still conscious, and yet she could move nothing.

Someone walked up to her from behind and picked her up roughly by the back of the neck. It didn't hurt, but it was rather uncomfortable. She would have growled at the treatment alone. She was turned to find Lucius Malfoy looking at her with a satisfied expression. Hermione wanted to bite him, if only she could. The body bind kept her locked in Animagus form as well.

"You are an exceedingly curious looking creature. Are you a dog or a cat?" Lucius asked. Hermione noted that she must have regained use of her mouth, since she was now growling aloud. She couldn't mover her neck or head though, so biting him was looking rather improbable.

The two other Death Eaters came running up.

"We've looked everywhere, Lucius. There was a room in the basement that looked to be hers, but there was no sign of her anywhere." Nott explained.

"It's nearing daybreak, so we must go anyway. Cast the mark, and we'll be off." Lucius ordered. Mulcibar turned and Hermione had to see one thing she wished she would never, a Dark Mark blazing bright above her house. The three men walked off into the woods, Lucius still carrying her roughly. Neither of his cohorts asked why Lucius carried with him this strange creature. It was his operation, and he was clear to take any souvenirs he wished. If he wished for that to be the family pet, then so be it.


	2. Chapter 2

Silver- mypseudonym

Chapter 2- The Order

Less than an hour later the Order convened at Grimmauld Place. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were all sleeping peacefully upstairs, oblivious to the commotion in the dining room. Mrs. Weasley had placed silencing charms over their doors before anyone else had arrived.

Albus was standing at the head of the table looking over a group of wizards and witches. They had varying responses to the early meeting. Some were still bleary-eyed at having been pulled from their beds. Others were jittery, knowing something big must have happened for Albus to call a meeting at six in the morning. It was a tense quiet that settled around the group. Even Molly and Arthur Weasley, whom he'd personally woken half an hour ago, had no idea what was going on.

"I received word about half an hour ago that the Dark Mark was spotted in a London suburb. It was found above the family home of Miss Hermione Granger." Albus said. A gasp went through the room. Arthur pulled Molly tightly to him. Other Weasley's and those who knew Hermione in the room clasped hands. Albus waited for the whispers to subside before he continued. "Her parents were found dead in their bed. It appears they were hit with the Killing Curse. Miss Granger has not been found. We know that she was staying with her parents for the summer, so we have reason to believe that she was in the house at the time of the attack. We must currently assume that she is either on the run or has been captured by Death Eaters."

"What can we do, Albus?" Molly asked tearfully, clutching a handkerchief tightly and wiping her face.

"Severus, I want you to visit some of your contacts today. See if you can find out anything about the attack this morning." Albus said.

"Yes sir. I've got some potions deliveries to make that could serve as a useful alibi in a few hours time." the Potions Master replied. He was no great fan of Hermione Granger, but even he realized what effect this could have on the war.

"Shaklebolt, Tonks, I need the two of you to keep tabs on the Ministry investigation. Be there if you can. We all know how the Ministry tends to miss things. See if she may have left any clues to what may have happened."

"We'll get right on it, sir." Kingsley said. He and Tonks stood from the table and left immediately. It was early, but the Ministry would begin humming soon.

"Molly, Arthur, see what information you can glean from Harry, Ron, and Ginevra. They've probably been in communication with her over the summer. If she was not in the house at the time of the attack they might know where she was."

"What do you want us to tell them?" Arthur asked.

"As little as you can. We don't want to upset them at this point." Albus said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Harry would not take the capture of his friend lightly. It was best if they found out more information before anyone told Harry and Ron. They'd proven themselves many times over to be willing to take action into their own hands.

"The rest of you, go about your business as usual, but watch and listen for things that might tell us where Miss Granger is. I don't think I need to tell you just how important she is to this war effort. We need Harry in a good frame of mind before any battles. Losing a very dear friend unexpectedly does not bode well for that. Therefore do not speak a word of this to any of the younger residents of this house." Dumbledore explained. He adjourned the meeting so that everyone could head off to work.

Just a couple of hours later Molly was serving up breakfast to the three youngest residents of the house. Harry and Ron had not yet started Auror training, and Ginny was on vacation before she would start her 7th year at Hogwarts. She was hoping to be named Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team for the year. All three ate at the table completely unaware of the conversation that had happened around that table earlier that morning.

"So, what are you boys planning on doing today?" Molly asked.

"Umph rumt muminf ranah." Ron grumbled, his mouth characteristically overflowing with food.

"Ron Weasley, do not talk with your mouth open like that. And kindly chew and swallow your food before you take another bite." Molly scolded gently. Ron made a great show of swallowing before putting a new bite of food in his mouth.

"We were thinking of going to Diagon Alley for a while in the afternoon." Harry said.

"Oh could I come? I'd love to visit Fred & George's shop and maybe shop a little." Ginny asked. Harry smiled and nodded at her.

"Have there been any interesting Hermione stories lately? I haven't heard any of you mention her for a while." Molly next inquired, trying not to betray any sadness.

"She's just staying at her parents' this summer, and helping out at their office some." Ginny replied, stirring her oatmeal to redistribute the fruit.

"No exciting vacation plans or anything? I know sometimes they've gone abroad during the summer." Molly prodded.

"Nope. Hermione said she was just really looking forward to taking a step back from it all. I think she was just looking forward to spending some extended time with her parents." Harry said.

"I suppose that's understandable. I guess we should just leave her be for now, let her enjoy her parents' company. Yes, that'd be for the best, I suppose." Molly said distractedly, wandering back into the kitchen.

"Blimey, Mum's really losing it these days." Ron said quietly just before stuffing half of a pancake into his mouth.

Kingsley and Tonks were the first Aurors in the building that morning, so they were dispatched quickly to the Granger house. The house was utterly swarming with Ministry officials working under cover with varying degrees of success. The team in charge of Obliviating Muggles was wearing coveralls claiming to be an electrical company. They were going door to door to discuss the 'electrical distrubance' of the previous night with the locals before Obliviating them. Meanwhile, Kingsley and Tonks were working inside the house. Their first stop was the bedroom upstairs where St. Mungo's officials were preparing to remove the bodies of Mr. & Mrs. Granger. The couple seemed to have been killed by a simple killing curse. They were somewhat lucky, as most Muggle killings done by the Death Eaters were more bloody and really terribly gruesome scenes.

"Why so simple? Usually it's so much worse than that." Tonks remarked quietly as she and Kingsley explored the other upstairs bedroom.

"My guess is that they hadn't yet found Hermione. Anything gruesome would make significantly more noise. Likely her parents slept through their own murders. The question is, where was she when they arrived?" Kingsley grumbled.

"Not to mention where is she now." Tonks said. They explored the top floor, finding only empty guest rooms and a lavatory. There was no sign that anyone had stayed in any of the guest rooms recently. They descended to the main floor and explored the family's main living quarters. They found some shoes that could likely have been Hermione's and a stray copy of The Daily Prophet in the kitchen. The rest of the house was blank of artifacts that a witch had been in residence.

"She probably didn't keep anything magical here just in case someone came over unexpectedly. It would hardly do to be brewing a cauldron of anything when a Muggle neighbor popped over to borrow a cup of sugar." Tonks said. She was opening all of the doors off the kitchen. First she found a small bathroom, then a pantry. Finally, she opened a door onto a flight of stairs.

"Kingsley, any chance our witch has a bit of dungeon bat in her?" Tonks asked. Kingsley walked over and looked down the stairs. There was another door at the bottom of the stairs. He took out his wand and directed Tonks to follow him. They hadn't been told of a basement to the house, so it may not have been secured. Kingsley somewhat hoped that they would open that door to find an injured but alive Hermione. They descended slowly and quietly. Kingsley reached out cautiously to open the door.

It was locked. Tonks cast the Alohomora and the door clicked open. She nearly chuckled. Of course it wouldn't be necessary to cast complicated charms on a door when a simple bit of metal would keep stray Muggles out effectively. She stood guard as Kingsly neatly opened the door.

The room inside almost completely dark. It was also nearly half the size of the rest of the house. A quick glance around with a wand verified that fact. The room was also empty of life. Tonks shone around the doorway with her wand until she found the light switch. A quick flip and they got a much better look at the room. There was no overhead lighting, but there were several lamps and tiny lights were strung around the perimeter of the room. There was a bed in the corner nearest the door. There was also a worn armchair bearing a thin blanket and a book. Kingley picked it up. Tonks could read along the spine the words _Hogwarts, A History_.

"This is definitely Hermione's room. I remember Harry and Ron teasing her about how often she read that book." Tonks said.

"I surmised that much from the makeshift potions station over there." Kingsley said sarcastically, pointing to a table with a cauldron in the farthest corner of the room. He and Tonks set to exploring the room. There was no blood anywhere in the room. All of Hermione's belongings seemed to be there, or at least the bureau and bookshelves were full. The bed was unmade, suggesting that she'd left bed in a hurry.

"There's no sign of where she might have g-." Kingsley started. Tonks held up her hand to shush him. She noticed that she could hear the St. Mungo's wizards leaving, carrying out the bodies. They were discussing the score of last nights Holyhead Harpies game.

"Kingsley, do you think she heard them? Even with all the commotion outside we can hear them so easily. Imagine what you could hear at night!" Tonks exclaimed.

"Okay, so let's say she was asleep down here and she heard the Death Eaters upstairs. Let's even say it was already too late to call for help. How did she get out of here without them noticing?" Kingsley asked. Suddenly all their attention was focused on finding a way outside.

There weren't any doors or windows in the basement room. The only side room was a small storage area loaded with boxes. It wouldn't have been possible for Hermione to barricade herself with those boxes or use them to slow the Death Eaters down.

Kingsley was trying to take the cover off of the air vent while Tonks sat on the bed, trying to think of another possibility. All signs were pointing that Hermione hadn't died here at the very least. There weren't even signs of a struggle.

"I don't know if she could have gotten this metal thing off, much less gotten it back on behind her speedily and silently." Kingsley said, grunting a little as he tugged at the vent cover. Just then Tonks felt a slight breeze.

"Where is that air coming from?" she asked quietly. She stood and walked in the general direction of the draft. It was then she noticed the slight movement of the tassels on a large wall tapestry. She hurried over and yanked the tapestry down. It clattered to the floor loudly, alerting her partner. They both stood, dumbfounded, in front of an open door.

"Tonks, do you know what this means?" Kingsley asked.

"It means that she got out of the house. Kingsley, she may have escaped a Death Eater attack!" Tonks said, laughing and hugging her partner. They were both just so delighted at their findings. The two Aurors hurried to tell Dumbledore of their findings before writing their Ministry report.

If they hadn't rushed off after finding the open door, they might have seen the lock of black fur caught in the door hinge or the small paw prints left in the mud just outside the door. In a few days rain and the cleaning crew would wash away these sole bits of evidence.


	3. Chapter 3

Silver- mypseudonym

Chapter 3- Waking

Hermione awoke feeling unusually groggy and rather cold. There was something else unusual as well. It took a few minutes for her mind to wake up enough to process everything. When she did, she wished to go back to sleep.

Here she lay, trapped in her Animagus form, a silver fox. The cage she was in wasn't large enough to accommodate her human form, though she knew it would be safer to remain in this form. Hermione Granger would be killed on the spot at best, but right now Malfoy had no reason to believe this fox was anything other than a fox.

She was kept in a solid metal cage. It was tall enough for her to stand up, but not tall enough to stand on her hind legs. It was about one and a half times the length of her body. She paced it the length furiously, having enough room to take a couple of steps before she had to turn around. There was a grating on one end of the cage. Hermione stopped at it and looked out for a few seconds extending her animal senses. She could smell a metallic, mineral scent and mold. She could hear all sorts of noises. There were people talking, walking around, all the sounds of a bustling home. All of these sounds however were very far away. She let out one short bark and listened to the echo. There was no response. Hermione's human brain told her that she was in a secluded area, but under a house, possibly well underground. She assumed that she was underneath Malfoy Manor, knowing the greed and pride of Lucius Malfoy. He certainly wouldn't have trusted the animal with anyone else, at least not until he'd finished with it.

At present though, there was no one around. She had no idea what time it was or how long she'd been asleep. The more she thought about it the more Hermione got pissed off at the whole situation. She was angry with herself for having gotten into this situation. She should have called the Order. She should have defended herself. She shouldn't have risked her parents' safety in the first place. As her anger increased, Hermione began to knock herself against the walls of her cage, letting out some nervous energy. All that happened was that she got very tired, a little sore, and developed a headache from the clunking against the metal. Eventually she walked to the back of the cage and curling up, resting her head on her tail.

A while later Hermione heard someone coming downstairs. She curled up even tighter.

'Wild animal, Granger. Think wild animal.' she thought to herself. She knew that this would not be good. It would be difficult for Lucius to pull her out of her Animagus form as strongly as she was currently clinging to it. She kept alive the vague hope that if she could convince Malfoy that she was just a fox, he might let her go. Then she'd be able to run to the Order.

When she heard a hand hit the top of her cage, Hermione began issuing a threatening growl. Soon, she was bearing her teeth at the patriarch of the Malfoy family.

"Now, now, little pet. That will be enough out of you." he said before casting a silencio. He levitated Hermione out of the cage by her tail. It was very uncomfortable. She twisted and twitched as she floated in the air, unable to make a sound. She struggled and pawed at the air before he put her in a body bind as well. She watched, upside-down, as Lucius Malfoy paced around her, looking at her curiously.

"Just what sort of creature are you? You sound like a dog, but you don't look like any kind of dog I've ever seen. But I've heard that Muggles have an affinity for strange looking dogs. Then again, you could be the Granger chit. I wouldn't put it past her to have learned to be an Animagus. Just to be sure, I should cast the spell." Hermione took a deep breath and steeled herself inside her animal form. It took nearly all the energy she had left, but it was the only way she could escape discovery. She surrendered herself to her inner fox.

The spell hit her, and it felt like someone was trying to rip her in half. 'I'm a fox.' she said to herself, clinging to the animal for dear life, knowing that if she were revealed she'd be dead. 'I'm a fox. I'm a fox. I'm a fox' she repeated over and over until the ripping feeling stopped. She heard Lucius sigh as he threw her back into the cage.

"Stupid dog." he grumbled before walking back upstairs. Hermione succumbed to her need to sleep.

She woke up sometime later to see another face at the door of her cage. This one looked much like the first, but it had a worried expression to it. Draco, something inside her supplied. He raised his hand to the door of her cage and Hermione growled out of fear.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you." he said quietly. Hermione could sense the difference between his voice and the other. She stopped growling, but she stayed at the far end of the cage.

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked, thrusting a thin strip of something into the cage. Hermione could smell it. Food. Suddenly she felt famished. She stood carefully, never taking her eyes off the Draco. She crept closer to the bit of meat and picked it up. She sat and ate it quickly. The boy pushed another piece through the bars on her cage. This one she also ate. Just as she was finishing the second piece, there was a popping sound that sent Hermione skittering back to the end of her cage.

"Master Draco?" a painfully squeaky voice asked.

"What is it?" the human responded, his voice suddenly sounding more like the other human's.

"Professor Snape is here to see Master Lucius. Moppy tells him Master Lucius is not in, but Professor Snape is insistent." the squeaky voice explained. Hermione curled up again.

"Where is he?" the human asked.

"He's in the study, Master Draco."

"Fine. Go and prepare some tea. Deliver it to the study in exactly four minutes." Draco ordered, standing and walking away quickly. There was another terrifying popping sound then the profound silence of her environment returned.

Professor Severus Snape sat warily in the study of Malfoy Manor. Lucius wasn't home, and neither was Narcissa. He would instead converse with Draco. This was really not an awful turn of events. He wouldn't give the potions he'd created for the elder Malfoy to his son, so there would have to be another visit.

Severus was certain now from his conversations with other Death Eaters that Lucius Malfoy had been in charge of the raid on the Granger home the night before. There was a possibility that Draco might know something. In any case, the boy would be arriving shortly.

Sure enough, Draco walked proudly into the room a moment later. Severus surveyed him quickly. He seemed relaxed though a bit irritated.

"I take it I came at a bad time. I had no idea your parents would both be out today. I hope I didn't interrupt anything terribly important." Severus said. When talking to Malfoy's a little flattery and schmoozing was never a bad place to start.

"No, I was just… Well, never mind. What can I do for you, professor? Some tea perhaps?" Draco asked. Just then a house elf appeared carrying a tea tray. The elf prepared a cup of tea for each of them while Draco sat in a high-backed black leather armchair.

"I was inquiring after your father actually." Severus said. "I heard he was involved in something of interest. I was hoping to speak with him"

"Father left this morning. I do not know when he will return." Draco said, crossly.

"Is he well, Draco? I haven't spoken to him in so long. I know this spring he was acting a bit odd. Has he recovered?" Severus asked, referencing a conversation he'd had with Draco while the young man was still his student.

"My father is fine." Draco said. Severus could see that he wasn't going to get anything easily. He met Draco's gaze and carefully peeked into his mind.

Draco was indeed hiding things. Lucius had been a bit unstable lately. It appeared that his latest movement was to begin torturing animals. He took them as souvenirs whenever he was on a raid. He tortured them until they died. Severus could see Draco being forbidden to go into the dungeons. He saw Draco sneaking down to feed a wide variety of creatures- birds, fish, dogs, cats, etc. Severus didn't see any memories pertaining to the Granger girl though, so he delicately extracted himself from Draco's mind. The young man didn't seem to have realized anything.

"Well, Draco. Please tell your father I will stop by another day this week to speak to him. Remember that you may send word to me at any time if you need anything." Severus said. He placed his hand on Draco's shoulder, adding weight and truth to his words.

"Yes, professor. Thank you for stopping by. I'm sorry that my father was not in to meet with you today." Draco said. The Potions Master swept gracefully out of the room and out of Malfoy Manor.

That evening Lucius Malfoy returned, and the wizard swept promptly to the dungeons. He was a bit battered and had a crazed look in his eyes. He yanked open the door to Hermione's cage and ripped her out unceremoniously. In her terror at the intrusion, Hermione bit him on the arm. Lucius howled and threw her across the room into the wall. Hermione crumpled to the floor with a little squeal. He picked her up again, this time by the throat. Hermione immediately started choking from the inability to breathe.

"She wasn't home. I launch what should have been a historic raid on Granger's home, something that should have destroyed the inner workings of Potter's little group, should have weakened Dumblebore's toy. But no, because she wasn't home! All I have to show for all that work is YOU- a stupid, smelly dog! To make matters worse, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named blames ME for the failure of the raid. He tortures me!" Lucius said, shaking her roughly while Hermione had already fallen limp from lack of oxygen. Her world was beginning to fade.

"Father! Mother wants you to come upstairs now and take some tea. Why don't you let me deal with that thing, and you can go relax," Draco said, walking up to his father and hesitantly removing Hermione from his grasp. Lucius seemed to calm in the presence of his son.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea, Draco. Be careful with that dog though, it bites." Lucius said before walking back upstairs. Draco lifted Hermione so that the two made eye contact. Hermione would have fought him, but she was busy trying to breath again. After a basic inspection of the area around her neck and a check to make sure she was breathing, Draco put her carefully back in her cage.


	4. Chapter 4

Silver- mypseudonym

Chapter 4

About a month after the raid on the Granger house Harry and Ron were inducted into the Order of the Phoenix. They almost immediately asked after Hermione. Dumbledore had lied to them about a week after Hermione's disappearance, telling them that she'd been sent on a top-secret mission for the war effort, and she was not allowed to be in contact with any of them or it could compromise her position. They fell for it easily at the time, but the two young men were openly disappointed when they didn't learn more of their friend as official members of the Order.

At Order meetings there was a lot of talk about certain projects in codes. Harry and Ron were aware of some of the codes, but not all of them. From the updates occasionally given during meetings they had been able to piece together a basic idea of all but one. At every Order meeting, towards the end, Dumbledore would ask if anyone had any updates about 'Operation Missing Link.' During the pause after his question, each of the Order members would do his or her very best to avoid making eye contact with anyone else. After several uncomfortable seconds Dumbledore would sigh and move on to another topic. With no updates, they had no idea what the secret operation could be, but it didn't seem as though it was going well. When questioned about it, even the bolder Order members would mumble something incoherent and pretend to be called away.

That fall things slowed down a bit as many of the Order members were now back at Hogwarts, no longer able to devote extra time and energy to the Order. Meetings were still regular, but never more than once a day. Also, it was unusual to see the entire Hogwarts contingent present. Harry supposed it was difficult for them all to leave the castle without robbing the building of needed chaperones or causing a scene. He and Ron had started training to become Aurors. Right now their days were spent taking classes. They learned more magical defense, some physical defense, crime scene investigations, dealing with the public, disguises and undercover work in addition to history and practices. It was really quite a busy time for them.

For Hermione though, the time crept by. She didn't know how long she'd been trapped in the Malfoy's dungeons. It could have been years. She lost a lot of muscle tone from being contained in such a small space. Draco managed to bring her enough food to keep her alive, but she sometimes thought that was just doing her a disservice. Her coat was matted and dirty. Her skin itched. Lucius for the most part left her alone. He'd kicked and beaten her several times at the beginning, but now she rarely saw him. It seemed her jailor had forgotten about her without killing her or setting her free. Her life was cold, lonely, and terribly sad. The human Hermione would have been horribly depressed, but she dealt with the sadness caused by her situation by slipping further and further into her inner fox. After so much time had passed she rarely thought of herself as a human being any more.

Fall turned to winter and the Christmas vacation. Severus had dutifully kept an ear to the ground for news of the Granger girl, but he wasn't really expecting to hear anything anymore. The summer's raids were old news. With each passing month, Severus supposed their chances of finding Miss Granger alive were dropping. Eventually, someone would have to tell Potter and Weasley that Granger was dead. It would be cruel, but Severus thought it was rather cruel to lie to them in the first place. He visited with many of his darker acquaintances over the vacation, but there was still no word. He returned to school the next month ever the same grouchy Potions master, but he could see that Albus too was becoming less hopeful. Soon the old man would have to accept the truth.

"I've just learned that tomorrow is Severus Snape's birthday." Narcissa announced the morning of January 8th after reading her post.

"Yes, I suppose it is. Perhaps we should send him a gift." Lucius remarked, taking a bite from a piece of bacon.

"We should, but it will be quite difficult to find something suitable at such a late date." Narcissa added.

"It must get quite lonely for him at Hogwarts. I don't think the professor even has a pet of any sort." Draco said.

"What are you thinking, son?" Lucius asked.

"Perhaps you should give Professor Snape that dog you've got in the dungeon." Draco suggested. Most of the other animals his father had taken were now dead, but somehow that dog survived. He felt bad for it; it had the most beautiful eyes.

"Merlin, is that thing still alive?" Lucius gasped. "It can't be worth much as a pet as vicious as it is, but I suppose he could probably use at least part of it for potions ingredients." Draco nodded. "Well then, I'll take the beast to Hogwarts this afternoon. It can be a surprise for him when he returns from teaching."

Severus was spending his birthday the same way that he had for many years- ignoring it entirely. He taught his classes and was just as strict as usual. Few at Hogwarts knew that today was his birthday, and none of them would publicly address it. Albus and Minerva, while suffering their own viewpoints on matters such as birthdays, still respected his desire to have his entire personal life separate from students. He would get a few birthday cards or letters and that was all. Sometimes he didn't even read the birthday notes before tossing them into the fire.

Today Severus taught all day up until three in the afternoon. In the evening he would supervise detentions before retiring with a drink and a good book. This was the way that he preferred to pass his days.

After dismissing his final class, Severus headed through his office to his personal quarters. He had little desire to read student essays tonight. It was one concession he'd make today. Instead he just wanted to read a potions journal and relax. When he entered his living room his spy senses began to tingle immediately. Someone had been in his chambers. There was a bit of soot on the hearth even though he hadn't used the Floo in his chambers for several weeks. He also couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't alone. He drew his wand carefully and stepped into the quarters.

Soon he noticed a folded bit of parchment on a side table. That was not there this morning when he left. He picked it up and unfolded it slowly, stopping partway to to scan the room again. He looked down at the note.

Severus,

Happy birthday. We decided that you could do with a little company. You're now the proud owner of a dog. Enjoy.

Lucius & Narcissa Malfoy

Severus sighed. Hopefully the presence he felt in the room was the aforementioned dog. He still needed to find it. The spy decided that to find the animal he was going to have to think like an animal. Chances were that if it had been in Malfoy's custody it arrived in his quarters terrified. If he were a scared animal that was just released in a strange place he would surely go and hide. Severus prepared himself for an epic game of hide-and-seek. Not knowing what size this animal was, he couldn't rule out anywhere as being too small for it to fit.

It took half an hour to survey all the potential hiding places in the living room. There was no sign of anything around the couches and chair, the bookshelves, the desk, or anywhere else. He then moved on to his bedroom.

He lit the lamps in his bedroom and immediately knew he'd found the correct room. There were about two seconds of frantic skittering under his bed. He sunk to his hands and knees just a few feet from the bed before lying on the floor on his stomach. In the darkness of the space he could see two bright brown eyes looking at him. He was given a bit of a warning growl from the creature.

Carefully, Severus extended himself into the creature's mind. It was always a little unsettling to enter an animal's brain, as they input memory so differently than humans. Inside its mind was a whirlwind or fear and hurt. He saw Lucius as the animal saw him, cruel and evil. He saw Draco slightly more trusted because he came bearing food and never caused pain. It was clear that this animal had been with the Malfoy's for quite a while. His first instinct was to kill it and put the animal out of its misery, but something told him that he needed to try to help it. Severus cautiously rose from the floor and went to his medicinal storage area to find a sleeping potion. Animals could be treated with all the same potions as humans as long as they were administered in smaller quantities.

He mixed a few drops of sleeping draught in some cool water. If the animal were anywhere near the size he suspected this potion would cause it to sleep deeply for several hours. He placed the bowl of water just at the edge of the bed, left the room, shut the door, and doused the lights. He sat in the living room and waited for about half an hour.

When he reentered the room and relit all the lamps there was no skittering sound. He walked over to find that the bowl of water was empty. There were no brown eyes under the bed this time. He thumped his hands against the hardwood floor to look for any reaction. There was none. Carefully he set to work.

Albus Dumbledore was walking the corridors that night when he stumbled upon the Potions Master leaving the library.

"Severus, whatever are you doing out here? You don't have patrols tonight," the Headmaster said.

"I know. I've been working on a project this evening and I needed a book." Severus replied.

"I know full well you've been working on something. You missed dinner and you've been driving the house elves mad with odd requests. What are you working on down there?"

"I've been given an animal." Severus replied.

"Well that's nice. What kind of animal is it?" Albus asked.

"Right now it's a very abused one. It was given to me by the Malfoy's, you see, and it has been neglected and tortured. I've treated all the physical ailments I could find, but we'll see if I'll be able to keep this animal as a pet." Severus said, clearly wanting to return to work.

"Ah well, good luck Severus. Let me know if you need anything, though Hagrid is much better with animals than the rest of us." the old wizard said. Severus nodded briskly and stalked off toward his dungeons.

Hermione awoke feeling very odd. There was an odd taste in her mouth, and her whole body felt different. The first thing she noticed was that she was in a cage again, though this one could be looked through from all sides and was enormous compared to her last cage. Lamps flickered in the room where she sat, and fire snapped loudly a little ways away. There was a lot of stuff in this room as well- much more than her last location. The next thing she noticed was that she was lying on a soft, warm piece of cloth. There was a dish of water and a small dish of food in this cage with her. Hermione got up and walked over to the food dish.

It was then she noticed that it no longer hurt to walk. Her skin didn't itch, and her coat felt shiny. When she ate her teeth didn't hurt. She felt wonderful. She had no memory of anything happening, just a large black human leaving her a bowl of water and disappearing.

She was sitting in the cage with her tail tucked along her leg when the large black human appeared again. He saw her sitting up in the cage and smiled. He crouched in front of the cage.

"Hello my furry friend. I'm glad to see you awake. I hope you're feeling much better now. Anyway, I've been to the library. You're not a dog at all. See, look at this!" he said before holding up a book. "I've reason to believe you're actually a silver fox."

Hermione looked at him. She really wanted to hide, but there wasn't a good hiding place in the cage. She was still a little groggy from her earlier nap, and she couldn't resist the urge to yawn.

"Well yes, I suppose this isn't news to you. You've always known you weren't a dog," the man said. "Well, I don't want to give you too much to eat at once. That would be very bad for you given your prolonged mistreatment at the Malfoy's, so I'm afraid that's all the food you get until morning." he said gently. He'd put a calming potion in with the animal's food, and the empty bowl combined with the animal's disposition suggested the potion was kicking in.

Hermione lay down on the blanket again, not taking her eyes off of him.

"What should I call you? I feel like I need to call you something," he said. The two observed each other in silence for several minutes.

"What about Arian? That's Welch for silver, and you're a silver fox." Severus asked. Hermione twitched her tail lazily and let her eyes shut partway.

"Arian it is. Well, good night Arian. I hope you find your new accommodations more acceptable than your former ones." he said. The tall black man walked away and the room fell into darkness. Hermione slept.

AN: I know Snape is a little OOC when he talks to Hermione in her fox form, but I like to think he would speak more kindly to a wounded animal. Also, at the end he's a bit excited over his findings and is able to demonstrate that since they are alone.


	5. Chapter 5

Silver- mypseudonym

Chapter 5- Making Adjustments

Over the next few days Hermione was supplied with regular meals, clean water to drink, and a warm place to sleep. Each time he came in or left the man would talk to her briefly. He was the one supplying her with all these things. After a few days, when she was starting to feel better than she had for quite a while, Hermione began to trust the man. She didn't feel the need to run to the back of the cage when he opened the door to refill her food or water dish, or to empty the tray beneath her cage. She didn't want to hide every time he walked into the room. Being in a cage was still bad, but it was not as bad as before.

Severus was enjoying the rapid recovery his new pet was making. He fed her small meals five or six times a day, since she hadn't been fed in so long. He made sure her water bowl was always full. Her food and drink were laced with extra vitamins and potions to improve her health. In truth, she looked a hundred times better than she had when she'd first arrived, but she still needed to gain another pound or two to be at an appropriate weight for her size. Her coat was thick and shiny, and her eyes gleamed with intelligence.

He was most pleased with the changes he was witnessing in Arian's personality. At first it was just little things, like not growling when he came close to her cage. Now, she was starting to stay where she was when he opened the door to add food or water, instead of running to the far end and curling up tightly. He could feel her eyes watching him if he sat in the living room in the evening. He made an effort to go near her cage whenever possible and to speak to her in friendly and gentle tones as often as he could. It amazed him how much he was already invested in this animal.

One Saturday evening Severus was feeling a bit daring. When he finished giving Arian her last meal of the day the fox was lying comfortably on the blanket he'd put in her cage. Taking a deep breath, he reached out to touch her. He felt the muscles on her back tighten instantaneously, and she began to growl quietly. He was being warned. Feeling lucky, Severus stroked down her back twice. After the second time the growling stopped, but Arian did not relax. Severus declared that enough fox therapy for the day before he did something to cause himself injury. He withdrew his hand and closed the cage.

And so a very small amount of petting became a regular part of Arian's routine. The man petted her exactly three times a day- once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once before he went to sleep. It wasn't exactly a pleasant experience, but it didn't hurt and it didn't last long. She was willing to allow some concession to the human who had fed her for so long. The first time was utterly terrifying. Having never been pet before, at least as far as she could remember, it was quite bewildering when suddenly the human is touching her. She had flashbacks to the white furred man touching her and causing pain, but the black haired man didn't cause her pain. After a few seconds the petting would end, and she would be left to enjoy her meal in peace.

Hermione had an itch on her back that she couldn't quite reach. She'd tried everything- stretching her legs as far as they could reach, rolling on her back against the blanket, rubbing up against the side of the cage. Nothing could make this itch go away. She was miserable.

When Severus walked into his quarters after lessons his eyes floated automatically to the large cage in the corner of his living area. Arian was lying on her stomach with her head resting on her front paws. Her back legs were curled up and twitching occasionally like she was uncomfortable. Her eyes looked unusually tired. Severus knelt in front of the cage.

"What's wrong, Arian?" he asked, worriedly opening her cage. If it were medical, he might have to ask Poppy for a good veterinarian; he didn't really know enough about a fox's body to know what was wrong and how everything should be. He just knew enough to help her get her health and strength back. Hopefully he hadn't miscalculated and hurt her with the potion he'd added to her water this morning. He reached in hesitantly and touched her. She didn't bristle at all, which was slightly unusual. He stroked her head a few times, murmuring softly before he stroked the length of her back. There was one area where he could feel muscles spasming when he pet her. After a few concerned pets though and running his fingers softly through her fur, Arian let out a puff of air. He looked down to see that her eyes were closed contentedly. Her back legs had also settled into a more comfortable position. Before long, she was asleep.

After a week or two, Hermione began to look forward to the bit of attention she would receive every time the man walked into the room. She became comfortable with him petting her fur and rubbing her ears. She even began to enjoy it. Now when he came into the room, Hermione would stand and walk to the front of her cage. She would wait silently while he put down anything he had been carrying and came over. He would open the door of her cage and kneel to pet her for a few minutes before closing the door again and walking away.

One day, the man left the door open when he got up. This was new, and Hermione was confused. Perhaps he had left it open unintentionally. She didn't want to do anything to upset the dark man who'd been so kind to her. She sat at the open doorway and looked at him questioningly. After a few minutes, he looked up from the book he was reading on the couch.

"Well, come out if you want to, Arian." he said. He watched amused as his black and silver fox shifted her weight from one front paw to the other as if trying to make a decision. Finally, she set one hesitant paw outside the cage and looked up at him. He looked at her and then made a show of looking back at his book. When he looked up again, she was sitting completely outside the cage, looking at him again.

The dark man hadn't seemed to mind her leaving the cage. He had seen her clearly outside the cage and had not yelled or even moved. She then presumed to explore her surroundings. As the dark man read, Hermione walked around the room, sniffing everything along the walls. She then explored the middle part of the room. She ended up near the dark man, sitting on the floor beside him and smelling his shoes. The dark man reached down with one hand and patted her head.

"Good girl, Arian." he muttered. Arian walked around the room once more before returning to the place where the dark man sat. This time, she really wanted to jump up and sit on the same puffy object as him, but she wasn't sure if this would anger him. She sat on the floor at the opposite end and looked at him for a while before he met her gaze.

When Severus looked up again, the fox was facing the couch a little farther down, and she was looking at him. He could somewhat see why Lucius had confused Arian with a dog, as she behaved in much the same way. He sighed and patted the couch cushion next to him.

"Up, Arian." he grumbled. He really had no problem with the animal on his furnishings so long as she didn't destroy anything. So far she'd not done anything unacceptable. The fox jumped gracefully onto the couch and walked toward him. She nuzzled his arm in thanks and received a quick pat on the head before she walked to the opposite end of the couch. She climbed up on the rounded arm and lie down, looking into the snapping fire.

Hermione was nearly asleep basking in the softness of the couch and the warmth from the fire, when the fireplace roared loudly and glowed green. She was suddenly awake and terrified. The dark man put a place marker in his book and sighed. Suddenly another human stepped from the fireplace. Hermione panicked and ran. The door to the room where she'd hidden before was shut. She hurtled back into her cage, burying herself under the blanket for safety.

"Hello, Severus. I came to inquire after your new pet. It has been a month, so I presumed I might be able to see it now." the Headmaster said.

"Well, this evening was the first time I let her out of the cage. She was sleeping on the arm of the couch there before you came. Now she's hiding in her cage." Severus said.

"Yes, I saw a flash of something running when I came in. What kind of animal is it anyway?"

"A fox- a silver fox." Severus replied. "I've named her Arian."

"Well, I suppose I'll go have a look at Arian then. I can't say that I've ever seen a silver fox before." the aged man said.

"Respectfully, Headmaster, that might not be a good idea. She's still a bit unstable, and your arrival has her terrified. Perhaps you should sit for a while, and we'll see if she comes back out on her own." Severus said.

"Nonsense, Severus. I'll just have a peak at her from the cage." the Headmaster was already on his way over to the large cage in the corner. He crouched slowly in front of the open cage. Arian was trying to hide under a blanket, but he could still see her tail, and her eyes peeking from under the blanket.

The new man crouched ominously in front of her hiding place. She'd been found. As he looked at her, Hermione began to growl softly. She hoped the dark man would keep this man from hurting her, but she wasn't sure.

"Headmaster, I wouldn't do anything, if I were you." the dark man warned from a short distance.

"Nonsense, Severus, I've dealt with magical creatures before." the intruder scoffed. He whipped the blanket off of her. Hermione snarled and growled much more loudly, baring her teeth at the man. She was on her feet, ears straight back, tail rigid behind her.

"Headmaster, I really think it's time to leave her alone." Severus said, sounding nervous now. He was proud that Arian had given him several levels of warning so far without attacking, but the Headmaster didn't seem to be paying attention at all.

"Oh my, Severus. She's gorgeous and very fitting for you." the Headmaster said, oblivious. "Shush now, little Arian. I'm not going to hurt you." The old man reached a hand in to pet her.

Severus saw Arian's back legs bend slightly. Before he could do anything, the Headmaster yelped and scooted back from the cage, slamming its door shut. Arian was still standing and growling loudly within her cage, but now the Headmaster's hand was bleeding. He got some bandages and quickly cleaned and bandaged the bite. It wasn't awful, and he knew Arian could have hurt him much more severely.

"She bit me." the Headmaster said, sounding astounded.

"Well, in all fairness, she did give you three separate warnings to leave her alone, and you didn't heed any of them." Severus said handing the headmaster a glass of firewhiskey. He thought the older man's nerves might need it.

"I can't believe she bit me." he remarked.

"Well, Arian was mistreated before she came to me a month ago, you know that. She was kept in Malfoy Manor, and I know that she was horribly abused. I've been moving very slowly with her because she's still rather wild. I'm surprised she warned you as thoroughly as she did." Severus reminded him.

"I know you warned me. I don't recall the fox warning me." the Headmaster said.

"Warning number 1, she hide when you came in. Warning number 2, when you knelt in front of her cage, she started growling quietly. Warning number 3, when you pulled the blanket off of her, she growled louder and bared her teeth, pushing her ears back. You kept going even after your third warning to leave her alone, so she bit you a little. To be honest, she could have harmed you a great deal more. You were lucky." Severus said.

"Wow, I can't believe I wasn't paying attention to any of those things. Just mind that you don't let her out of your quarters until she's thoroughly tamed. I don't want her attacking any students." Dumbledore said. He made his excuses and exited through the door.

Severus stood and walked over to the cage where Arian was quite calmly licking her front paw before using it to wash her face.

"I'll have you know you just bit one of the most powerful wizards in the world. I'm not blaming you though, Arian. He wasn't paying attention to your warnings. All the same, I think you can stay in your cage for the rest of the evening." he said. The fox paused while he was addressing it, but then she resumed her bathing, quite undisturbed by her punishment.

Severus walked away, shaking his head and chuckling softly.

AN- Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I haven't forgotten this story, honestly, I've just gotten very very busy. School has started now, so updates will be slow.


	6. Chapter 6

Silver- mypseudonym

Chapter 6

AN: Back from hiatus. Sorry, but it's really hard for me to write during the school year. Too many papers. So much red/green/purple ink. I wish Hogwarts had a spell to help with that.

A few weeks later, Severus was ready to attempt another visitor to his quarters. He'd had Arian out of her cage every night while he was in his quarters. Once she got adjusted to the freedom, the fox developed a bit of a routine. When he first opened the cage, she would run around excitedly for several minutes, stretching her legs and doing a swift tour of the rooms. Following that, she'd walk over to him and relish in a few minutes of attention. She would spend the rest of the evening alternating between short walks and spells of lying in one of her favorite spots. She seemed really to like lying on the arms of the couch, the rug in front of the fire, and a few tight squeezes around the rooms. As of yet, she'd destroyed nothing, though sometimes she needed a reminder not to dig when she got excited. He was hoping sometime soon she'd be trained enough that he could take her outside where she could dig and run around more.

That afternoon Minerva had suggested to him that they needed to meet to discuss business of the latest set of Hogwarts troublemakers. Knowing she was much more knowledgeable of animals than the Headmaster, he asked her if she might agree to holding the meeting in his quarters. He explained to the older witch that he wanted to test his pet with a stranger again. Minerva consented, laughing a little and announcing that she would not attempt to touch an animal that was attempting to hide from her. They arranged for Minerva's arrival to be about an hour after Severus usually let Arian out of her cage.

Severus always had the feeling that Arian understood what he was saying to her. So, in the calm after the initial storm of freedom from the cage, he told her that Minerva was going to be coming in about an hour. She didn't deviate from her usual routine, and neither did he.

Precisely on time, Minerva McGonagall knocked briskly on the door. Arian sat up at the strange sound, and her ears twitched. When Severus got up to welcome Minerva his fox regarded him curiously. A second later, the door opened, and the black & silver fox dashed for the safety of her cage.

"Hello, Severus." the Head of Gryffindor House greeted.

"Hello, Minerva. Would you like something to drink?" he asked.

"I think a bit of firewhiskey would suit this thinking session quite nicely, thank you." she replied. Severus poured a bit of whiskey into two glasses, handing one to Minerva before sitting across a low table from her.

"So I take it your pet went into hiding?" Minerva asked,

"Yes, but I think that's quite normal for animals that aren't used to a new person." Severus replied.

"Quite. Well, let's get straight to the topic, shall we. The antics of Mr. Thompson, Mr. Bartelby, and Mr. Winthrop are completely unacceptable. I'm afraid they may be more dangerous than Fred & George Weasley combined with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger." the older woman said, sipping her drink.

"I quite agree, though I think Ms. Granger tamed down the latter group some. I'd hate to see what they would have done without her there to be a voice of reason. They probably wouldn't have lived to be thirteen." Severus replied.

"Poor Ms. Granger. I will miss her dearly. She could truly have been one of the most influential people in the wizarding world through a variety of different means, but I'm afraid we may never know what happened to her." Minerva said sadly.

"Indeed, with each month that passes the chance we find her both alive and sane drops significantly. Yet there's still no word, no leads to follow." Severus said quietly.

"But we've digressed. We may not be able to help Ms. Granger right now, but we should be able to develop a plan of attack for the current mischief makers." Minerva stated, redirecting their conversation.

They continued chatting about various things for nearly an hour without any change. Then, suddenly Arian came out of her cage again. She was basically ignored as she walked around the room. Both parties were watching her secretly, but their conversation continued on in much the same way.

Hermione found she didn't mind this stranger much. She'd hidden in her cage and been left completely alone for a long time. Clearly, this person didn't intend her any harm. She trusted the dark man enough to believe he wouldn't be friendly with someone who wanted to hurt her. She emerged from her cage and quietly walked around the room. The dark man and the woman continued their conversation. Their tones seemed friendly for human conversation, and both seemed to be relaxed. She walked around for a bit before hopping up onto the couch where the dark man was sitting.

Severus was pleasantly surprised when Arian jumped up onto the couch beside him. He wasn't really expecting her to be so friendly while someone else was here. She walked up to that she was right beside him and lay down, resting her head upon his leg. The invitation was clear, so Severus scratched her ears and pet her.

"She's beautiful, Severus." Minerva remarked.

"Yes, and she's really become quite tame in the last few weeks. I'm fairly certain that she'll become quite friendly in the end," he said.

"What's her name?" Minerva asked.

"I call her Arian." he replied.

"Silver. What a fitting name for such an animal." Minerva remarked. She smiled at the animal for a moment before returning to their conversation. Before long their venting was finished and both felt as though they had a better handle of the situation with the latest group of troublemakers to grace the school.

Minerva was rather curious to hear Severus' perspective of Dumbledore's interaction with Arian. As the Potions Master skillfully wove together the tale, Minerva laughed heartily. She knew from past stories that Care of Magical Creatures was both their headmaster's least favorite course in school and his worst. It was never made so abundantly clear during her years as in Severus' story.

Arian watched as the visitor laughed. The dark man was similarly animated. There was no tension in his thigh, upon which she was resting her head. She presumed that this person was trustworthy and a true friend of the dark man. She noted with a sniff that the visitor seemed to smell nice too. She rested on the couch next to the dark man until both of the people rose and he accompanied the visitor back to the doorway through which she came.

Arian was sitting on the couch still when he turned. The dark man smiled at her.

"You did very well, Arian. Good girl." he said, patting her head a bit. He walked off to another room. Arian smelled something delicious and she hurried over to investigate. Her black paws stopped just beside the dark man's shoe. He chuckled. "Oh, so you think this is for you then. Well, this time you're right." he said. "I ordered these from the Magical Menagerie last week, and you've definitely earned one tonight."

He placed the delicious smelling item on the floor in front of her and took a step back. Arian surveyed this thoroughly, as this was something new. The dark man had never given her food outside her cage, and he generally discouraged her from putting anything in her mouth outside the cage. It was light brown, and wider at both ends than in the middle. Most importantly, it smelled delicious. Arian shuffled her feet, staring at the item. She whined a bit.

"Go ahead, eat it." the dark man said. Arian looked at him for a moment and cautiously touched the treat with her mouth before looking at him again, as if asking permission. When he failed to scold her, Arian quickly snapped the whole item into her mouth.

It tasted as good as it smelled. What's more, the dark man seemed pleased that she'd eaten it. She walked to him and butted her head gently against his leg, licking her lips to savor every last crumb. He gently touched her head again.

"Well, Arian, I think it's time for bed," he said. Arian knew the word bed. She obediently walked to her cage and lay down. The dark man extinguished the lamps and walked into his personal area. Like hers, Arian remembered that his too had a cushion large enough for him to sleep on. When she heard his breathing even out, Arian allowed herself to fall asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Silver- mypseudonym

Chapter 7

A few days later, the woman came again to visit with the dark man. Arian hid in her cage when she heard the knock, but she came out again when she saw that it was just the woman again. Arian was lying in front of the fire when she decided she wanted to be pet. It was really a very pleasant sensation once she got used to it.

The fox rose from her position and jumped on the couch next to the dark man again. He was holding lots of paper in front of his face and failed to notice her appearance. She nudged his near hand with her nose. The hand moved, but she was not pet. She tried again to no avail. Finally, resorting to desperate measures, Arian slid her body under his arm to rest on his lap. Still the dark man did not pet. Rather, he did quite the opposite. He gently shoved her off of his lap and crossed his legs, all while holding the papers. Arian pouted briefly until she saw that the woman was not holding any papers. Perhaps she could get the woman to pet her.

Arian jumped off of the couch and padded over to sit in front of the woman's chair. She looked up at the woman expectantly.

"Severus? I hate to interrupt you while I've asked you to read that article, but I don't know what your pet wants." Minerva said. There was a brief shuffling.

"She wants to be pet. If you want to pet her, just pat the arm of the chair and she'll jump up. If not, just ignore her." he replied simply before returning to his papers. Minerva gently patted the arm of her chair. Arian recognized the signal and leapt joyfully to her perch. The woman gently held her hand in front of Arian's face. Arian sniffed at it briefly before sitting and staring, waiting for the petting to begin. The hand didn't move.

Arian insinuated that she needed to teach the woman how to pet. She was so desperate, that she would accept any kind of petting. She stretched her neck to place her head against the woman's hand. She was soon rewarded with several pets to the head. As the woman moved her hand down to stroke all the way down her back, Arian arched up against her hand. This woman was a natural. Several minutes later, Arian was so relaxed from all the petting that she was nearly asleep on the arm of the woman's chair. Her bushy tail flicked languidly over the side. The dark man put down the papers at long last and looked at them. He chuckled.

"Minerva, I think you might be her new best friend." he replied. He removed himself from the room and returned with one of the glorious smelling treats. Arian was suddenly awake as he gestured to the floor with the treat, while saying "Arian, down." She jumped and walked over to him before the dark man held out the treat to her. Arian gently and carefully took it from his hand. She was careful not to allow her teeth to come into contact with his skin. To top it all off, he proceeded to pet her briefly while she ate the treat before he returned to his place on the couch.

"I think her socialization is coming along very nicely." Minerva supplied.

"Yes, I may soon attempt to take her out of my chambers. Perhaps I'll bring her to my office hours tomorrow." Severus contemplated.

Meanwhile, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were standing in the Headmaster's office.

"We would like to know more about what Hermione is doing." Harry requested, looking quite plainly at the headmaster.

"You know I can't tell you. We've been through this several times already gentlemen. Miss Granger is involved in a highly secret mission for the Order, and I'm not going to jeopardize her by revealing any information to anyone who doesn't strictly have to know." Dumbledore replied wearily.

"Could you at least tell us if she's okay? It's been over 7 months since either of us heard from her." Ron asked sadly.

"She is not unwell." Dumbledore answered vaguely. He knew that, in all likelihood, Hermione Granger was dead and probably had been for quite some time. The war was escalating though, and he was having a hard enough time keeping control of Harry as it was. He certainly wasn't going to deliver such a harsh blow to the young man's psyche when they were preparing him for the battle that was sure to come.

Eventually, the Headmaster managed to dismiss the young men from his office, but not before Professor Flitwick turned up with a problem. Sometimes it seemed like a Headmaster's day was never-ending.

The following morning Arian woke in her cage to find the dark man walking about as usual. She generally awoke at some point during his morning shuffling about. She would then go back to sleep for a while once he left. She walked out of her cage and yawned before stretching. The dark man came over and knelt down in front of her. She walked over to him, knowing that he generally would pat her on the head before leaving.

This time he put something on the ground in front of her. Arian sat and looked at it for a moment before she touched it with her paw. It didn't look or smell like food. It was a thing strip of fabric with a cool metal circle in the center. Arian sniffed it before looking back up at the dark man.

"If you're going to leave the chambers ever, you're going to need to get accustomed to wearing a collar. I'm going to leave this on you today while I teach, and tonight I may take you to my office." he said. Arian, of course, didn't understand a word. She saw the dark man pick up the object again and soon it was wrapped around her neck. Arian was distracted as he pet her before leaving.

Her neck felt oddly heavy with the collar on. For a while, Arian rubbed her neck against the sides of her cage, the couch, the table, everything she could find. She scratched at it and even attempted to bite it. When all her efforts failed in removing the object, Arian settled for a nap.

After a few hours, she found she wasn't thinking about the thing around her neck so much. It didn't hurt, make noise, or get in the way. She was far too distracted with the flickering shadows on the floor and furniture. It felt good to be able to run. The dark man was so much nicer than the other man because here she had room to run, plenty of food, and regular attention.

In the afternoon, Arian sat in front of the fire grooming when the black man returned. Arian stopped and ran up to him running a couple of circles around him in greeting.

"My, aren't we feeling enthusiastic this afternoon." the man said. He reached down to greet her. Arian ran a few excited laps of the room before settling down. Snape spent an hour or so reading a Potions journal while stretched out on the couch with Arian laying across his legs. Before long, he had to leave for dinner. He refilled Arian's food dish before setting off to the Great Hall.

"I'm going to bring her to my office hours this evening." Severus told Minerva when she asked after Arian.

"She might enjoy a change of scenery." Minerva said.

"I'd like to start integrating her to more people and places now that she's clearly a pet. She gave me the saddest look when I left a while ago, but it will be a while before she could integrate into the Great Hall." he replied.

"Yes, there's a lot going on in here and it can get quite loud. This would be far too overwhelming for an animal unaccustomed to people. Have you thought about what you'll do next if the office works?" she asked. Having met Arian, Minerva found this whole process very interesting.

"I was thinking from there I might try to take her on rounds with me in the evenings. Then maybe some meetings." Severus replied.

"You'd have to put her on a leash in the castle just to make sure she stays with you." Minerva said.

"Yes, but I think with some training she'd stay nearby. I put a collar on her this morning, and she seems to have already gotten used to it."

After she finished eating, Arian did another inspection of the quarters. She was getting quite bored of this space. It was usually just her and the dark man in this space, so not a lot changed. She could tell by the smell of the man's boots and clothing though that he went to some interesting places. She enjoyed smelling him when he returned, and she hoped he might take her somewhere one day.

Before long the dark man was back, smelling delicious. She walked over to smell his boots and was rewarded with a few pats to the head. After a moment though, the dark man did something unusual- he picked her up. Arian held herself stiffly as she lay cradled in the man's arms. As much as she was growing to trust him, this just didn't feel safe. He carried her around the room once while petting her with his free hand. He was speaking as well, but Arian was too nervous to pay attention to what he was saying. He put her down after a couple minutes and gave her a treat, which Arian scarfed down happily.

Almost as soon as she'd finished, Arian felt all four of her paws leave the ground again.

"We're going to take a field trip to my office, Arian. We'll see how you do someplace new. There will probably also be some new people." the said. Arian wasn't too happy about being carried, but she forgot it all when he stepped through the door. Suddenly, Arian was assaulted with thousands of new smells. Most of these she'd smelled on the dark man at some point, but they were so much stronger out here. She itched to explore but settled for sniffing the air enthusiastically. All too soon they entered another room and the door shut again. The man put her on the floor of this new room and gave her another treat. Arian almost forgot to eat it with all the new stimulation.

Watching the fox explore Severus was very glad he'd done a little fox-proofing earlier in the day. Arian didn't climb on tables or counters in his quarters so much, so he left the shelves and tabletops alone. He made sure the room was clean, free of anything that might be harmful to her. He moved fragile objects off of low shelves. He transfigured a scrap of parchment into a pillow for Arian to rest on if she so desired. This was black, of course, and had been placed in a corner of the room behind his desk. After observing his pet for a moment longer, Severus got to work on the grading he'd saved for office hours.

Arian was sniffing near the door when she heard footsteps. The came closer then walked past. It happened again and again. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped and there was a knock at the door. Arian froze.

Severus hadn't thought this through. He supposed if someone opened the door Arian was quite likely to run out of the room. As far as he knew, she knew no commands. He certainly hadn't taught her any. There wasn't time for anything new though, someone was on the other side of his door and Arian was poised very near the entrance.

"Arian, come here." he said forcefully, hoping maybe she would understand. The fox looked at him nervously for a moment before sprinting across the room to hide under his desk. He threw a quick ward to keep her from passing his desk in the next few minutes. "Enter!" he called more loudly.

A Slytherin student came through the door. It was Olympia Flannery, a 6th year Prefect. She was still wearing her school uniform and carried a worn but well-constructed brown leather bag over her shoulder.

"Good evening, Miss Flannery. What do you need?" Snape asked. Arian was peeking her head around the desk.

"I was wondering if I could ask you about something, sir. We been studying cooking herbs in Herbology, and I was curious about their possible applications in potions. I was wondering if you knew of any books on the subject." she girl said, perching in the chair on the other side of his desk. Olympia Flannery was a jewel in the Slytherin House. She was soft-spoken, but she was very intelligent. Severus enjoyed teaching her very much. He tried very hard to keep from dwelling on the fact that she was basically Hermione Granger in Slytherin form.

He spent about 5 minutes suggesting various titles that she might find in the library pertaining to the subject and mentioned some of his own experience in the integration of cooking herbs in potions beyond flavoring.

After a couple of minutes Arian started to creep out from under the desk. She shifted to where she could peak around the corner at the new person. This person was small and feminine. She smelled most interesting as well, very different from the dark man. Arian found herself craning her neck to smell her better. She inadvertently moved her feet forward into view.

"Oh Professor Snape. What a magnificent creature!" the girl said, smiling and looking at Arian. "Is it yours?"

"Yes, she's a silver fox I've been training to be a pet. Be careful, this is the first time she's been in my office, and she's a bit unpredictable still."

"She's beautiful. Come here, little fox. I won't hurt you," the girl said, extending one arm down. Arian crept forward nervously. She wasn't sure about this new person, but she desperately wanted to smell her more closely. That scent somehow seemed so familiar. She sniffed the girl's hand thoroughly before the girl lifted it to pet her. Arian forgot about her nerves as she enjoyed the contact. "May I ask what her name is sir?"

"I call her Arian." the black man responded.

Upon hearing her name, the fox looked up at the dark man. He had a momentary flash of surprise. It was the first time the fox had shown any recognition of its name.

"You should bring her out more often, sir. She's very beautiful." Olympia said.

"I'm testing her at various levels. It is merited, as she bit the Headmaster shortly after she arrived.

"Oh Merlin! Why would she do that?" Olympia asked, concerned.

"No worries, it's wasn't a serious attack nor was it unmerited. She's not bit anyone since, though you're only the third person she's met since living with me."

"Well I think she's quite nice. You should bring her to class or to dinner sometime. I'm sure the others would love to see her."

"I'll do that when I can be certain that she'll respond appropriately. She was near wild when I got her."

"She seems very intelligent. I'm sure she won't be too hard to train." Olympia said. "Thank you for the help, sir. I'll check out some of those titles you mentioned. Good luck in training your fox. I'll see you in class on Tuesday." the girl said, picking up her bag.

"Have a pleasant evening Ms. Flannery." Severus responded. He snapped his fingers to get Arian's attention. The fox was currently leaning against the prefect's leg. She looked at him sharply. "Arian, come here." he said. He hoped against hope that it would work, having never tried this trick before.

The animal studied him for a moment before walking back behind the desk. Severus rewarded her with a treat and some attention as the student left. There were two other students that visited that evening, and no one caused a negative reaction in Arian, though she still routinely hid from people when they first entered.


	8. Chapter 8

Silver- mypseudonym

AN: I apologize for how long it has taken me to update. I had a combination of traveling followed immediately by illness that delayed finishing this chapter. We're starting to get into the good part though, so I hope you enjoy. This chapter's short, but its sweet.

Chapter 8

Almost a week later Severus trusted his new pet well enough to take her out on late night patrols with him. She liked to be a little ahead of him, but she would always stay within sight. In some ways, taking Arian made his life easier- she was an expert at rooting out hiding students.

One night they were patrolling the main corridor when Arian suddenly scurried behind his legs and trembled. As Severus began to hear footsteps, Arian began to growl quietly.

"Hush, girl. You're fine." he murmured. She seemed to quiet, but it could have been all in his head. Out of the shadows came the body of Draco Malfoy, his black cloak billowing a bit behind his all black ensemble. With the pale skin and platinum blonde hair of the Malfoys, he couldn't blend in regardless of what he wore.

"Good evening, Draco. What brings you to the school at such a late hour?" Severus said. As much as he didn't trust the older Malfoy, the younger was still a friend of sorts and a useful ally.

"Just a meeting with the Headmaster. I keep him apprised of Father's latest doings. He's getting a little unpredictable. I'm afraid he's nearly unhinged."

"Lucius has been through a lot in service to our esteemed friend. Some amount of mental breakdown is to be expected." Severus replied. He knew that Draco was also a spy for the light, but they still had to be careful what and how they said things in the corridors, even at this late hour. The castle had ears that heard for both sides.

"Well, it started with the animals. I mean- I'm sure you saw with that dog he gave you. It was all I could do to try to give that animal a merciful death. He was convinced that dog was Granger." Draco whispered.

"She's not a dog, and her rehabilitation is nearly complete. She's becoming quite a good pet." Severus replied, chuckling a little at the preposterous idea.

"Not a dog? We are talking about the same animal, correct?" Draco asked.

"The one your family gave me for my birthday? Yes, she's a fox." Severus said. He scooped up the slightly trembling Arian from behind him and held her tightly in his arms. She looked at Draco then him warily. If she were a human, he'd almost think it was questioningly.

"Sweet Merlin, it's alive. I figured you'd kill it and salvage what ingredients you could." Draco gasped.

"Draco, meet Arian, my new pet." Severus said. Draco reached out to pet her. Arian allowed him to stroke her head while the dark man held her, but she whined and tried to burrow into the dark man's garments a bit.

"It appears she remembers me. I was kind to her, but my kindness was nothing in the face of Father's cruelty. I'm glad she's alive and well. I must be going, Professor, but it was pleasant to chat with you for a moment." Draco replied, pulling on his dragonhide gloves. Spring was coming, but night was still quite cold.

"Remember that I am here if you should need my assistance in any way." Severus said, looking the young Malfoy in the eye.

"Thank you. Goodnight, Severus." Draco said before striding toward the large front doors.

After a couple of weeks of successful patrols with no incidents, Severus decided to try taking Arian to a class. He started her off with his NEWT class. As advanced seventh years, they were the least likely to cause a serious accident. It was also a class after lunch, so he could plan things better.

He brought Arian into the empty classroom about twenty minutes before he would allow students into the room. She stuck close to him at first, but then she started exploring her surroundings. Severus watched her walk among the tables and stools. She was just tall enough to rest her front paws on the top of a stool, but not tall enough to jump on one comfortably. She mostly sniffed everything in the room.

Arian was thrilled with this new room. She'd found the source of many of the dark man's odors. She wound around seats and taller furniture drinking in all of the different scents. Her claws made slight clinking sounds against the ground in this room, and she would just slide if she tried to run very quickly. That was a cause for some anxiety.

Just when Arian was starting to get comfortable, several new people came into the room. She could hear the noise outside of this room, but the people who came in were quiet and sat on the stools she had just been exploring. Arian shrunk back to the front of the room, semi-hiding near the dark man's desk. At first no one seemed to notice her, but before long the group gathered- about fifteen young people- noticed her, whispering and nodding.

"Today you will be continuing your work on your Polyjuice potions. I trust that you all know what to do." the dark man said sternly.

"Sir? There is an animal in the room." one Slytherin quietly pointed out, looking directly at Arian.

"I'm well aware of that, Mr. Peabody. I've been training this fox for some time now. She probably will not harm you. Your upcoming NEWT exam, however, may. I suggest you keep your priorities straight, Mr. Peabody and get to work." he barked. Soon the classroom was full of interesting smells as students worked with various ingredients in raw forms, as well as the ingredients already simmering in their cauldrons.

Arian was so overcome with all of the smells that she forgot to be afraid of the people. She walked around the room, constantly sniffing while dodging feet, bags, and assorted student detritus currently littering the floor. Each cauldron smelled similar, though not exactly the same. Arian somehow recognized them all as being correct smells, though she did not know how she recognized them. As she turned the corner near Mr. Peabody though, Arian smelled something very, very wrong. Her fur pricked up as though there were a danger in the room. She growled and barked at the offensive smell, backing to safety under an adjacent table. Everyone in the room's attention was on her at that moment, except for that of the dark man who was hastily removing something from the boy's hand.

"Mr Peabody, what exactly were you doing adding peppermint to your potion!" the dark man asked, shouting.

"I-I-I thought it would make the potion taste better? I heard Polyjuice tastes terrible.," he stammered.

"Well, Mr. Peabody, if it weren't for the fox you might have blown yourself up. You NEVER add unauthorized ingredients to a potion. Only certified Masters have the level of reactionary knowledge to toy with ingredients. Your job as a student is to follow the instructions. Do you understand this, Mr. Peabody?"

"Y-yes sir."

"Good, I suggest you stick to the proven method and cease risking your health and valuable ingredients trying to make something _taste_ better." he growled. He stepped around the table and crouched down to the floor in front of the table where Arian was hiding.

"Well done, Arian," he said, giving her a treat and a pat on the head.

Severus kept his pet in all of his afternoon classes. She handled being around the students very well and acted like the best teaching assistant he'd ever seen. Somehow she knew when someone was using an ingredient that didn't belong or when another student had too much of an ingredient. It was like nothing he'd ever seen or heard of. This animal was clearly more intelligent than he'd given her credit for.

Late that night, when Arian was sleeping in her cage she had a very disturbing dream. She dreamed of a troll, enormous and smelly. It had her trapped in a very large room where every surface was hard, slick, and shiny. She hid from the troll as it tried to smash her with a gigantic club. She was inexplicably terrified.

Severus was awoken in the middle of the night by the strangest of noises. He got up to investigate the sound to find that Arian was emitting this terrified whimpering cry in her sleep. She was curled up tightly and shaking. He'd never seen an animal have what appeared to be a nightmare before, but then again he'd never spent time with an animal that was tortured in captivity before. Very cautiously, he started speaking to her.

"Arian, it's okay. You're safe at Hogwarts. No one is going to hurt you here.," he murmured. He wasn't sure if she understood him, but she woke up. She looked at him pitifully, still shaking like a leaf. Overcome with pity for the animal, he reached in and picked her up carefully, hoping she wouldn't startle and attack him. He held her to his chest, still speaking calmly to her. After a few more minutes, her shaking had almost completely stopped, but she still looked at him sadly. On a whim, Severus carried his pet into his bedroom and put her on his bed.

Arian was concerned. She liked being so close to the dark man. Near him she felt safe and protected. He hadn't harmed her or allowed anyone else to do so. She had relaxed a great deal when he held her, which was odd since she really didn't care for the heights. When he took her into his sleeping cage and placed her on his pillow she was puzzled. It was hard to stand on his pillow because it was so large and so soft that her paws sunk in. She stumbled a bit experimentally.

Severus almost laughed at the somewhat bewildered fox attempting to walk on his bed- he probably would have if it hadn't been the middle of the night when he was so tired. She stumbled strongly, even fell over once when it seemed she tried to turn in a circle. Severus climbed into the bed and waited for a moment for Arian to settle. She fairly quickly curled up at his side with her head resting on his arm.

"Goodnight, Arian." he said. She blinked at him once before closing her eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

Silver- mypseudonym

Chapter 9

The next morning Arian woke up curled in the dark man's arm on his sleeping pillow. He hadn't begun to stir yet, so she waited patiently, not moving other than the necessary movement of head, ears, and whiskers. These things she could not stop. The dream she'd had last night, the one that led to her being moved in here, was odd. She felt like it was something that had really happened- a real moment of terror in her life. She didn't remember it happening, but she didn't remember anything prior to being held in the white man's cage. Surely she'd been a pup at some point. The issue was put out of her mind when the dark man woke. He groaned a little and put his hand on her head, tousling her ears gently.

"Good morning, Arian. Did you sleep well?" he asked. She responded with a nonchalant tail flap. "I'll take that as a yes. Ugh, I'm going to go get in the shower; we've got a long day today."

Severus was shampooing his hair (yes, he did that) and wondering why, all of a sudden, he felt the need to talk to his pet. Well, as long as no one else saw him do it he wasn't crazy, right? What seemed really odd to him was that it was almost like she understood him.

When he got out of the shower Arian was still lying on the bed, grooming daintily. He chuckled- must be everyone's bath time. He got dressed quickly. There weren't a lot of decisions to make when all your clothes were black and you wore the same thing every day. Efficiency was a good thing.

"Alright, Arian, lets go to breakfast." he announced, clipping a thin silver leather leash to Arian's collar. She really didn't need the leash, but it helped to keep them close together when the corridors were crowded. Arian could snake through students much more quickly than Severus' presence could part them. The black fox leapt gracefully from the bed and headed out the doors.

Arian had not yet attended a meal with the dark man. He had always fed her in her cage and come back for her later. At first, Arian was quite overwhelmed. There were so many people, so much noise, so many smells. She stopped at the doorway and backed up into the dark man's feet, trembling a little. The dark man picked her up and held her securely against his chest. "It's okay, Arian, I've got you." he murmured, so quietly even she barely heard it. She allowed his to carry her between two long tables full of noisy adolescents and up to a front table that was much calmer.

Severus put the fox down on the floor beside his chair, between himself and Minerva. She stood nervously. Severus sat in his seat and took a piece of bacon from the table. He held part of it down near Arian.

"Arian, sit." he said. She sat immediately and was given the bit of bacon he held. He gave her a few seconds to eat it before holding down the rest of the bacon slice.

'Arian, lie down." This command she also followed. He dropped the rest and stroked her head a few times before serving himself some breakfast.

"When did you have time to teach her tricks?" Minerva asked, surprised at the display.

"She picked them up very quickly. It really didn't take more than a couple of nights to teach her several commands. I thought it necessary if she's to be out around the students."

"A wise decision." the older witch commented. "The students that have been in classes with her are quite impressed. They say she's almost as good of a potions master as you." She chuckled at the impossibility.

"She certainly has an uncanny knack for it, I'll give you that much." Severus said. He noted that Arian was still resting calmly on the floor. He removed her food bowl from his pocket and filled it with kibble before placing in near her head. As soon as his hand had returned to the table the silver and black fox stood to eat.

After he had finished eating, Severus took up Arian's empty bowl and led her from the great hall via the side door. They had a relatively peaceful round of morning classes.

When the door clicked shut on the last student of the day, Severus found himself letting out a sigh of relief. A quiet morning had become a dizzying afternoon. Three melted cauldrons in one class! It was ridiculous. He heard another release of air and turned around to find Arian stretched out across the black pillow beside his desk. It was identical to the one in his office, but he'd never seen Arian lie down in the classroom. He knelt in front of her, and she blew air out of her nose in an exasperated fashion. He almost laughed at her.

"I suppose you've had just as long of a day as I have, haven't you girl?" he asked. Arian yawned widely in response. "I think that's a fine idea. A little nap before dinner would do us both some good. What do you say we go back to quarters first so I can have a bed too?"

In an incredibly shocking move the black fox rose from her bed, stretched backwards, and walked across the room. She walked all the way to the door before turning back to look at him. Severus was still kneeling by his desk, flabbergasted. She looked at him as though saying 'Well, I'm up, let's go.' Severus quickly recovered his wits as much as he could and strode across the room to open the classroom door. He then followed Arian all the way back to his quarters.

Severus opened the door and walked back to his room. He shrugged out of his robe and shoes and lay in his bed. He waved his wand to extinguish all but one of the torches in the room. With that little bit of light he was able to see Arian standing in the doorway, shuffling her feet.

"Oh come on." Severus relented, patting the bed beside him. Quick as, well, a fox, Arian ran across the darkened room and jumped on the bed curling up near his waist. She thumped her tail a few times in appreciation.

A week or so later Severus was very stressed out from final preparations for the OWL and NEWT examinations. The students had spring fever, which made them more frustrating than ever. He was assigning detentions and deducting points like a mad man, just trying to stay afloat in a whirlpool of teenage hormones. He had taken to leaving Arian in his quarters more, not needing for her to be around teenagers at their most unpredictable. She hadn't been happy with this at all.

Most nights this week, when Severus entered his quarters Arian looked up briefly before looking away again. She didn't come when called, respond to any of his commands, allow him to pet her, walk or sit within about three feet of his person, or join him in his bed. As she'd been his constant companion for the last few months it was a bit awkward. He tried giving her treats, which she ignored, and he tried to do all of her favorite things in their quarters. The fox just wanted nothing to do with him. Severus refused to admit to anyone but himself, that it stung a bit.

Late Friday night, Severus came back to his quarters livid. He'd been supervising a detention where a student got mouthy and ended up getting himself two additional detentions. Contrary to rumor, Severus Snape actually hated giving detentions. He hated it because, in a way, it was punishing himself. Since he had to supervise, not only was he disciplining a student, but he was also taking away his own ability to enjoy an evening with his…friend. The only thing he hated more than giving detentions though was misbehaving, entitled, smart-ass kids. This was why he would continue to assign detentions. One this particular evening, he'd just had enough. This student had pushed ALL of his buttons. He stormed into his quarters and slammed the door loudly, startling a sleeping Arian. He strode over to the bookcase where he stored his bottle of firewhiskey and poured himself a drink. Downing it quickly he poured himself another. His third drink he actually carried over to the couch.

Arian got up from her cage. First the dark man keeps her locked up all week, after she's SEEN and SMELLED the joys of the world outside. He refuses to take her out at all. Now he comes in when she's in the middle of a lovely dream where she's a beautiful girl dancing at a ball with the young man everyone is mooning over and he just started slamming things around filling the room with such a negative energy she'd never get back to her nice dream. It had seemed so real too. She got up, walked to and area where he would be able to see her, and glared.

Severus was on the couch trying to calm himself when he saw Arian standing across the room. If he didn't know better he'd swear she was glaring at him.

"Arian, come here." he instructed gruffly. He'd read that domesticated animals could help lower blood pressure; maybe petting Arian would calm him.

She didn't move. 'You really think I'm going over there? You must be out of your mind.' she thought. In this state he was starting to remind her of the blonde man that captured her. If she hadn't been so angry she might have noticed it was the first time she could remember being captured.

"Fox! You will obey me in my own house!" Severus bellowed, getting off the couch. He made about two steps towards her before Arian belted into the bedroom. Severus stomped after her only to find that she was hiding deep under the bed. He lay on the floor to look at her only to see two bright brown eyes and two rows of white teeth. She growled at him a little in warning.

Severus was really feeling the effects of the firewhiskey now. The rug beside his bed was strangely comfortable. He rested his head on his folded arms and spent some time pondering the fox under the bed. What was surprising was what he did next. In a manner uncommon to Snape but not uncommon to drunks, Severus started talking.

"Arian, I'm sorry if I made you feel threatened. It has been a really long day at the end of a very long week. I know you're mad because I kept you inside the quarters all week, but I was doing it for your own good." he said. He proceeded to tell the fox all about his week- how frustrated he was with his students, how many detentions he'd given out, how ready he was for summer vacation. He and Arian just stared at each other the whole time- he from the rug beside the bed, her from underneath. He felt as though she were really listening to him. After a minute or so, she stopped baring her teeth at him and just watched and listened.

About an hour later Severus finished recalling his story, at least as much of it as he was going to. He fell into the kind of deep sleep that people only experience after having enjoyed some alcohol. Arian crept out from under the bed slowly. She looked at him. This man had taken care of her for months. He'd healed her from her abuses and had never once scared her, before tonight at least. He fed her, tried to teach her things, and took her out walking. This man cared about her. Arian suddenly noticed this strange feeling- she cared about him too. She made sure the young ones he taught didn't create danger. She protected him from people she didn't find trustworthy. The most important thing she did for the dark man though was to give him a friend. She felt remorse for her actions this week. He'd been trying to protect her as always, and she'd denied him the interaction that he wanted most. This man needed a companion, and she could be that for him. Never again would she shirk her duties.

Arian noted that the dark man was in a position that would lead to great discomfort later, with his arms at such an uncomfortable angle. She clearly wouldn't be able to move him, but maybe she could make him more comfortable on the floor. She thought about how he slept. Leaping on top of the large cushion, Arian picked one of the smaller cushions up in her teeth. She carried it nearer the edge of the cushion before the weight was too much. She pushed it with her nose until it fell off the bed into the floor. Jumping back down, she got it as close to the dark man's face as she could manage. He didn't notice it, still sleeping. She ran around behind him and starting to nose around in his face. Sure enough, his arms flailed and he ended up finding the pillow and pulling it under his head. That was about all that she could do to help him, so she would just stay and watch him all night. She walked back around to his front and curled up against his chest.

Severus was very confused when he woke, bleary-eyed, in the morning. It didn't help that he had a massive hangover. He had foggy memories of last night, lying on the floor beside his bed talking to the pet that was currently sitting beside him looking at him curiously. He groaned.

"I don't suppose you know how to fetch a hangover remedy potion?" he groaned. The fox stayed put and tilted her head to one side as if she were perplexed. Slowly he roused himself to his feet, using the edge of the bed to help him. He stumbled toward the loo using his hands to shade his eyes from the light. A potion and a shower later Severus was feeling much more like himself. He remerged from the loo to see Arian stretched out on his bed, waiting for him. He walked over and ruffled the fur between her pointed black ears. "I suppose this means you forgive me, right?" Arian closed her eyes and stretched her head towards him in response. The dark man chuckled momentarily. He dressed for the day, talking to his familiar the whole time.

"We've got plans for today, Arian. After breakfast we need to brew some more pepper-up for the hospital wing. Poppy's been giving it away like candy with the students studying for their exams. She's almost out, so we've got to make lots. Then I think we could walk into Hogsmeade and run some errands this afternoon. It'd be your first time out of the castle, so we'd have to take the leash. I think you're ready though." Severus said, buttoning up his usual teaching robes. "Come on, Arian, time for breakfast." The fox leapt off the bed and ran a couple of excited circles around his legs before stopping.

He was taking her out of the room! Arian was so excited to be leaving for the first time in a week, and it sounded like he'd let her go several places today. She didn't understand everything he said, but she got enough words to gather that he was talking about many things. She ran excitedly down the corridor to the place she associated with the word breakfast- the big room full of young people. She had to stop every minute or so to make sure that the dark man was keeping up. She knew that he didn't like for her to get too far ahead.

What an adventurous day it was! By the time Arian and the black man returned to their rooms, she was exhausted from such an eventful day. Meals were a noisy affair as per usual. The black man had started taking to letting her wander some during the meal, which led to all kinds of interesting taste opportunities. The black man never gave her any of his foods, but others along the table were quite happy to share a bit here and there. After eating they went to a very clean room with a long table. The black man worked at this table, occasionally leaving it to fetch something from a shelf, for several hours. Arian lay on a pillow in one corner watching him intently. He would regularly talk to her. After another meal they did something unthinkable! He took her outside. Not just outside the doors, but a kilometer or more away from the entire castle. They went to a new place where there were rows and rows of smaller buildings. Some they even went in. Arian was wearing her leash at this point, but she didn't even mind because of all of the new sights, smells and sounds she was able to enjoy. Finally they returned for yet another meal before going back to their rooms.

"The students leave in just a few short days, Arian. You'll enjoy the castle without students. You'll be able to roam more, since I won't have to worry about the wrong student coming across you." he said, scratching her head right between her ears. It was delightful. They went to lie on the large pillow earlier than usual that night, both worn out from the long day.

Several levels above them, the ancient Headmaster was having yet another conversation with two young Aurors- Mr Harry Potter and Mr Ron Weasley. He'd called them to his office to give them some news. He waved them into seats and offered them tea and biscuits when they arrived.

"I have something that I need to tell you, news that I thought should be told in person rather than by other means of communication. I've thought very hard about how to tell you of this, and it has taken me a great deal of time to decide to tell you at all. I fear now you must be read in to the situation." the old man said.

"What is it, Professor?" Harry asked politely.

"I'm sure you've heard at various Order meetings mention of a project called Operation Missing Link?" Albus asked.

"Yes, but you only ever mention it in passing. No one ever has anything to say about it. Everyone just avoids making eye contact with anyone else for a few seconds until you move on." Ron prattled on, a few crumbs of biscuit coming from his mouth as he spoke and chewed.

"Well, Operation Missing Link began in June of last year. We received word of an attack led by Lucius Malfoy on a Muggle residence. It appeared to be a small operation- Professor Snape didn't even know of it until after-the-fact. A small group of Death Eaters entered the residence and killed two Muggles asleep in their bed." Albus said gravely.

"Pardon me Professor, but what does this small raid have to do with active Order operations. It's unfortunate yes, but Death Eaters kill a few Muggles every month. We can't possibly stop them all." Harry said.

"Yes, well this particular raid was on the home of John and Elizabeth Granger." Albus said. Immediately the two young men were on their feet, furious that they were not told and demanding more information.

"When we were able to enter the house later, we verified that it was Ms Granger's parents that were deceased. We were also able to confirm that Ms Granger herself was likely in residence at her parents' home at the time of the attack. Ms Granger, or whatever remains of her, has not been found," the old man said tiredly. Harry and Ron both sunk back into their chairs. Harry put a hand over his eyes briefly while Ron looked shell shocked.

"What exactly do you know of Hermione's whereabouts, Professor?" Harry asked gravely.

"Nothing. We've had ears to the ground ever since the attack listening and looking for any sign any whisper of what may have become of Ms Granger. Believe me that the entire Order and I have worked diligently through all channels to find her. It has, however, been almost a year. There is very little chance that Ms Granger, if she survived the initial attack, is still alive. I really didn't want to tell you about any of this, boys. We all wanted to resolve the issue quietly, to find her and return her to safety as quickly as possible. It is time now to face the harsh reality that we may never find Ms Granger or even her remains. We may never know what happened to her."

AN: And there you have it! Another chapter. Before you all freak out, let me remind you of the timeline-

June- Raid on Hermione's house, taken into captivity

January- Abused 'pet' given to Severus Snape

Mid-May- This chapter

Given the fact that missing persons' best chances of being found alive are within about 48 hours of being captured, it's not unreal to call her assumed dead after almost a year. Not everyone can be Jaycee Dugard.


	10. Chapter 10

Silver- mypseudonym

Chapter 10

Everyone at Hogwarts had noticed that Snape's fox, since making a few test appearances, was constantly at his side. Girls found it endearing that the professor was so attached to his pet. Boys found it unusual, but at least a fox is a masculine animal, right? It was certainly better than parading around with a cat. The other professors accepted it as a mellowing of their colleague.

Arian had been cooped up in the lab with the black man all day, literally all day. She came in with him after breakfast, and he hadn't left yet. By her own estimation, it was now well into the evening. She was hungry. She wanted to move. The black man would yell at her if she moved around too much in this room. She wasn't allowed to run here, or to jump, or to play. She moved to stand by the door and whine.

Severus noticed the fox whining at the door. He then looked at his watch. Merlin! He'd come in around eight this morning, and it was now after seven. He felt bad that he'd kept Arian cooped up all day. He was used to spending hours sometimes days in this room, but she needed activity and movement. He looked at his cauldron and his brewing list- he had about two hours more work to do. Could he do this work with his pet crying at the door for hours? It felt cruel.

He surveyed Arian. He could take her back to his quarters when he finished this potion, but that alone would be another half hour. He decided that Arian knew the castle layout well enough now that she would probably be okay left to her own devices. He'd even charmed his rooms so that she could open the door for exactly thirty seconds to let herself in.

"Alright, Arian, be good. I'll meet you back in my quarters later." he said as he opened the door to his private lab. The fox looked at him for a single second before bolting out the door.

_Freedom!_ her mind shouted as Arian ran full tilt through the dungeons. It felt good to stretch her legs. By the time she got out of the dungeons Arian slowed to a happy trot. There were still people on this level and above, so she had to be able to dodge them. Arian walked into the Great Hall. Dinner was finishing. She ran up to the table where she normally sat. She found the black man's friend, the familiar woman and the old man who'd threatened her what seemed like a very long time ago. These were her two best sources of table scraps, and she was hungry.

"Arian? What are you doing here? Where's Professor Snape?" Minerva McGonagall asked. "Albus, should we be concerned?"

"Doubtful. Severus was planning on brewing today, and he had a substantial list to get through. I imagine he just let the fox out to get some food and entertain herself for a while." he said. He grabbed a bit of roast beef left over from his meal. He put it on the ground where Arian quickly gobbled it up.

"Poor girl, she's hungry." Professor Flitwick said. He too found some extra meat from his plate and gave it to Arian. She got scraps from more people at the table than ever that day. After a few minutes, Arian was comfortably full. The students were starting to leave. Arian leapt onto the woman's lapped and nuzzled her gently in thanks. After a minute or so she leapt down and ran from the hall.

What Arian found odd was that she knew very easily where she was going in the upper levels of Hogwarts. She rarely patrolled more than three levels above the dungeons with the black man, but she knew where various corridors would take her on the floors above. She was greatly enjoying walking through these areas. Even on the staircases, she would get the strangest feeling sometimes like she should jump over the next step. She always did.

She was stopped and observing a painting of a butcher when she was cornered and scooped up suddenly.

"My, my, what do we have here? Snape's little pet, I see. Well, I think you'll have to come with me," the boy said. Arian struggled against him, trying to break free, but the boy had a solid grip on her. He carried her down the corridor, said something to a painting of a large woman in a pink dress and entered a room. She heard the painting close behind them. Trapped.

"Zack! What are you doing with Professor Snape's fox?" a girl asked with panicky tones.

"I'm keeping it- may just kill it later. The great bat deserves it for how horrible he's been to us Gryffindors." the boy said viciously.

"You can't do that! You'll get caught and expelled for sure! Not to mention that animal did nothing to you," the girl pleaded. She tried to pry the fox from the boy's hands. They were the only two people in the entire room, so it must have been quite late.

"I won't get caught. That's the beauty of it. I can drop this thing from the top of the astronomy tower. There's no way anyone would know who did it. They'd probably just believe the dumb animal fell."

"You can't do this! I won't let you!" the girl shouted, tears coming down her cheeks. She hit the boy as hard as she could. He startled, dropping Arian as he rushed to deflect her blows. The fox ran away to a far corner of the room.

"Stupid!" the boy shouted back at the girl. He hit her, knocking her to the ground before he turned back to Arian, standing in the corner with her fur raised and teeth bared. She growled and barked at him.

A first year girl came down the stairs at that time, coming to see what all the commotion was about. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, seeing a Prefect on the ground and one of Gryffindor's largest boys towering over an angry fox.

"You! Run and get Professor McGonagall! Hurry!" the Prefect shouted. The first year hesitated only a moment before sprinting out the door.

Arian stood in the corner, ready to fight. This boy had grabbed her once because she wasn't expecting it. _Fool me twice, shame on me._ she thought suddenly. Arian didn't know where she'd heard the expression before, but she didn't have time to think about that. She snapped and growled at the boy only a few feet away. She could see in his eyes that he was trying to figure out how to grab her again without coming into contact with her sharp teeth. Arian clawed at the carpet to let him know there were still other ways that she could hurt him if necessary. She kept her eyes trained on the boy. The black man would be very angry with her if she harmed one of the young ones, but she understood enough to know that this boy meant her great harm.

Most of Gryffindor had descended from their dormitories now to see the showdown between Emilio Fernandez and Professor Snape's fox. Barking and growling were not sounds generally heard the in the castle, much less Gryffindor Tower. No one was getting close to the action though. The portrait swung open and Professor McGonagall stormed into the room.

"What is going on?" she demanded.

"Professor! Emilio stole Professor Snape's fox from the corridor. He's planning to kill it!" the Prefect shouted. McGonagall made her way through the crowd to where the standoff was occurring.

"Arian, sit!" she ordered the growling fox. It had no effect. Arian remained as she was, not for a moment diverting her attention from the boy. Professor McGonagall's eyes grew large as she made her way quickly to the fireplace. She threw in some powder.

"Professor Snape! I need to you step through into the Gryffindor common room immediately!" she shouted, a small tremor of fear noticeable in her voice. She knew enough to know that the angry fox could do some serious damage to someone if it attacked, and he would be the only person with a chance at calming her down. "Mr. Fernandez, do no move. Not one inch." she ordered.

In a manner of seconds the formidable Potions Master stepped through the fireplace.

"What is the meaning of this? I'm rather busy. Arian's not returned." he said.

"I've found her, but I need you to calm her so that I can get to the bottom of what happened." Professor McGonagall said.

The Potions Master heard the low growl that he recognized from the early days of having Arian. He walked quickly to the corner where Arian was poised to attack. He stepped boldly in front of the student that held her attention. Immediately the fox noticed his presence.

Arian didn't see the black man until he stepped in front of the boy. She was so terrified that she didn't even see anything in the room other than the boy. When she saw that the black man was present she calmed down immediately. Arian knew that the black man would not allow the boy to hurt her, and he would remove her from this room. She stopped growling and closed her mouth.

"Arian. Sit." he commanded swiftly. She didn't hesitate for a moment before sitting. "Lie down." he said next. She quickly lowered herself to the ground, folding her front legs underneath her. It was then that she noticed how many of the young people were in the room. They were all staring at her silently, mouths open.

The black man knelt in front of her. He pulled a treat from his pocket and placed it on the floor in front of her. She picked it up quickly and chewed, allowing him to pull her long silver leash from his pocket and attach it to the metal ring on her collar. He wound the leash around his right hand a few time while patting her head with his left. "Good girl," he murmured before standing.

"Now, who can tell me why my fox is in this room?" he demanded, the aforementioned animal standing calmly beside him.

"I'll be very interested to hear this as well." Professor McGonagall said.

"Sir, Emilio took her from the corridor." a girl spoke up. It was Celeste Renault, a sixth year Prefect.

"Everyone to your dormitories except for Mr. Fernandez and Ms. Renault.!" Professor McGonagall ordered.

As much as they all wanted to hear what happened and see what punishments were dealt, the Gryffindors knew better than to defy their Head of House. They moved obediently up and down the stairs behind them, returning to their rooms where they would no doubt be discussing with their roommates what had transpired in the common room.

When the common room had cleared, Professor Snape took a seat in a large armchair near the group. He tapped his knee and the fox swiftly jumped onto his lap where she lay sedately observing the scene. It was hard to believe that not five minutes prior this animal was fully expected to attack a student. The professor now sat coolly observing the students that his colleague was about to question.

"Professor Snape, would you mind staying and making use of your particular talents while I get to the bottom of this?" the older witch asked.

"Oh I had no intention of leaving until I find out what occurred not only to bring my pet into this room and to make her feel so threatened that she would threaten a student. Interrogate at will."

"Mr. Fernandez, is it true that you took Professor Snape's fox from the corridor and brought it into the room?"

"No, I found Professor Snape's pet already in this room. It was going to attack me, Professor! I'm the victim here!" the boy cried from where Professor McGonagall placed him on the couch. She turned coolly to the Potions Master.

"All lies. Not a grain of truth in that. This will go much faster, Mr. Fernandez if you tell the truth," he said.

"Care to amend your answer, or shall I call the Headmaster and send Professor Snape here for a bottle of Veritaserum?" the Gryffindor Head of House asked.

"Okay, I took her from the corridor and brought her in here." he admitted.

"Why?"

"Because I was angry and I wanted to get back at Professor Snape. He bullies us Gryffindors in class and out. I'm sick of it," the boy said, not looking at the man sitting across from him.

"What did you intend to do with the fox?" McGonagall asked.

"Nothing, professor, honestly," he said.

"That's not true." Professor Snape interjected. Professor McGonagall merely raised her eyebrows at the boy.

"I wasn't going to do anything," he pleaded.

"He told me he was going to kill her, to throw her off the astronomy tower tonight and make it look like an accident." Celeste Renault asserted.

"You bloody snitch!" the boy roared at her.

"That's enough, Mr. Fernandez," the Transfiguration teacher ordered. "Ms Renault, what was your involvement in this?"

"I was here when Emilio came in with the fox. I could see that it was frightened. I tried to make him let her go, to talk him out of harming her. I was able to make him drop the fox by attempting to hit him. When a first year came downstairs to see what all the yelling was about, I sent her to get you, Professor McGonagall," the girl explained calmly.

"She's telling the truth. She is, however, neglecting to mention how she got the bruise that's forming on her jaw." Professor Snape reported from the chair.

"How did you injure yourself, Ms Renault?"

"Emilio hit me after I made him drop the fox. He knocked me to the ground." the said quietly. Professor McGonagall turned immediately to the boy.

"Mr. Fernandez, did you hit Ms Renault?" she asked sternly.

"Yes, ma'am." he replied.

"Well I think we're done here. Mr. Fernandez. you are coming to the Headmaster's office with me. Professor Snape, as its after curfew, would you please escort Ms. Renault to the Hospital Wing for a bit of bruise paste?" Professor McGonagall asked. The Potions Master nodded. Minerva McGonagall left the common room immediately with the disobedient boy. Severus knew he'd be stopping by the Headmaster's office later to hear what punishment had been given the boy. He was hoping for expulsion or something similarly harsh. He was very angry that a student had kidnapped his animal with intent to kill her tonight. It was definitely not something to be taken lightly. He rather hoped the Headmaster made an example of the boy.

He knew very well that how the situation with the Fernandez boy was handled would determine how Arian was to be treated within the school. If the boy was expelled, Arian would be able to walk around freely. She would be untouchable by the students. If he were not severely disciplined, Severus would not be able to allow Arian to go off on her own again while students were in the castle, and he may have to limit situations where she could be out even in his company.

"Well, Ms Renault, shall we go tend to your growing bruise?" he asked. The girl nodded. Severus snapped his fingers and Arian jumped to the ground. He rose as well and they headed out of the common room. In the corridor Severus bent over to detach Arian's leash, which he wound and placed back in his pocket. They walked in silence to the Hospital Wing, the young student too intimidated by her professor to speak.

When they reached the hospital wing they found that Madam Pomfrey had already gone to her quarters for the night. Rather than wake her, Severus directed the student to a bed.

"Does your jaw hurt badly, Ms Renault?" he asked calmly, remembering that this Gryffindor was a student that defended his fox and in all likelihood saved her life.

"No, sir." she replied from the bed on which she sat. Arian jumped up on the bed beside her. She lay down, resting her head on the girl's leg. Severus noticed her out of the corner of his eye as he was gently feeling Ms Renault's jaw for a possible break. "Is she bothering you?" he asked.

"No, sir. She's quite nice." the girl replied.

"She likes you. It appears, Ms Renault that you have not suffered a break. If you will remain here I will return momentarily with the bruise paste to treat you." he said before turning on his heel and walking over to the cabinets where the Mediwitch kept her more minor healing aids. He selected an open tub of paste before returning to the bed. Ms Renault was petting Arian whose eyes were half-closed.

He deftly applied the paste to the girl's injured jaw, instantly erasing the bruise and underlying muscle damage.

"Sir, is Arian okay?" the girl asked.

"She is well. She's just tired." he replied. "Now, are you comfortable returning to your dormitory or would you rather spend the night here in the hospital wing?"

"I'm fine to return to the dormitory, sir. I am sure that no one there wishes me harm." she replied, reading into the question that the professor was asking if she felt that she could safely sleep in her own bed.

"Very well, we will walk you back to the portrait then." he said. The girl got up, and they had started walking from the wing when Severus noticed that Arian wasn't following. He turned to find her watching him tiredly from the bed, not having moved at all. "Come Arian, it's not time to sleep yet," he said. She begrudgingly rose and jumped down from the bed, walking a little ways behind them all the way back to the portrait of the fat woman in a pink dress.

"Thank you for treating my jaw, Professor." the girl said, turning to the woman.

"Ms, Renault, I appreciate what you did tonight. If you ever tell anyone about this I'll deny it, but… fifty points to Gryffindor." the Potions Master said before turning away and walking back down the corridor, a silver fox trailing him.

Severus stopped halfway to the Headmaster's office and picked up Arian, who was slowly falling further behind.

"I know you're tired, girl. I'm tired too, but I won't be able to sleep until I know that Emilio Fernandez has been soundly punished." he said, carrying her the rest of the way. He knocked on the door to the Headmaster's office.

"Enter." the old man said. He opened the door to see Minerva looking tired, and the Fernandez boy sitting before the Headmaster looking grief-stricken.

"Minerva, if you would please escort Mr Fernandez back to his common room. I'll have a carriage by the main doors in half an hour. Please do not allow Mr Fernandez to interact with his housemates at all," the Headmaster instructed.

"Yes sir. Come along, Mr Fernandez." she said gravely. Severus watched as the boy walked out of the office, Minerva shutting the door behind him.

"Severus, I'm glad you stopped by. It saves the me the trouble of going down to see you later," the Headmaster said wearily.

"I just wanted to see that the Fernandez boy was being severely punished. I'll not stand for a student doing what he was planning to do to my pet and getting of with a mere detention." he said, with just a hint of venom in his voice.

The Headmaster was busily writing instructions on several slips and charming them out the window to various locations.

"Rest assured, I have questioned Mr Fernandez about the incident. He has been expelled from Hogwarts for threatening a professor and injuring a classmate. He is being escorted to Hogsmeade where is father will be receiving him shortly.

"Thank you, Albus." Severus said. He turned to leave the office.

"Now it's time to sleep, Arian." he said when he finally walked into his rooms. He placed his beloved pet on his bed. She was asleep when he returned a few minutes later, having readied himself for bed.

AN: A brief interlude. I couldn't let things be that easy. Sometimes being the pet of the least liked professor in the school would suck. Sorry for those of you who are big Gryffindor fans, but everyone has a bit of darkness in them.


	11. Chapter 11

Silver- mypseudonym

Chapter 11

It was only a few more days before the students left. Arian was able to spend at least parts of those days wandering on her own, but she always went back to check on the black man every hour or so, even just to walk past his classroom and make sure he was still there. Any other students only occasionally talked about as she passed didn't harass her. A few students would stop and kneel in the corridor nearby. If they seemed relaxed and friendly, she sometimes allowed them to pet her. The attention was a little bit glorious.

After the students left the castle was very quiet. Arian would run the corridors a couple of times a day for amusement and exercise while the dark man was brewing potions. In the evenings she would stay with the black man in his quarters. After breakfast he would often take her outside where Arian would get to spend an hour or so chasing birds, digging holes, or basking in the sunshine.

One day in her castle patrolling, Arian stumbled upon the most amazing of rooms. It was warm and well light with a whole wall of windows. Inside the room there were long tables with rows of chairs, armchairs that were delightfully squishy, and row after row of long, narrow shelves full of square things. Arian knew a lot about square things. The dark man had quite a few of them. The students would carry them around and open them regularly. The dark man opened one every night, staring at the thing for hours. She'd often tried to look to see what was so interesting. The squares in this room smelled wonderful! They almost all smelled good, but the aroma was so concentrated here. Arian felt as though she were at home. She walked slowly through the room until she heard the door open again. She heard footsteps, so she darted behind the nearest shelf.

Madame Pince generally used the summer to make sure that the books were in good order. She'd inspect as many sections as she could, checking to make sure the books were organized properly and sending out for repairs any book in poor condition. She'd make lists of publications that needed to be added to the collection, which was usually just compiling the requests of the faculty members. They could be trusted to keep up with the new literature in their own fields. She'd stepped out to collect Professor Trelawney's book list, and felt that something was distinctly off when she returned. Everything looked right, but she could shake the feeling that she wasn't alone.

Arian kept as silent as she could in her hiding place. She was a good bit away from the woman, so she could be assured that she couldn't be seen. She soon moved to a chair nearby, first running under the table, then jumping up into the chair. The woman looked up briefly, but then returned to her work in just a moment.

An hour or so later Arian was napping on this chair when a moment startled her awake. The woman was walking closer, putting things back on the shelves. She made eye contact with Arian in one moment and screamed at the top of her lungs. Everything she was carrying fell to the floor and she ran out of the room. All the movement scared Arian and, before she knew it, she was crouching on top of one of the high shelves.

Quite a few minutes passed before the woman returned. This time she brought with her a very large man. This man was a good bit taller than the black man, who was among the tallest people she'd seen. He didn't scare Arian at all though, she felt as calm around him as the dark man and the woman who was his friend.

"Hagrid, I'm telling you there's a monster in the library! I saw it with my own eyes! It's huge. I can't believe you didn't bring anything to kill it with!" she shouted, waving her hands in the air and looking altogether quite foolish. Arian had a great spot to watch everything, but neither of them had noticed her yet, lying flat against the top of the shelf.

"Well Irma, I reck'n if'n I sees the creature an' need somthin' I could go get it. I doubt the thing's as big as all that. If t'were tha' big, someon'd a'notic'd it 'fore it got all the way up 'ere." the large man replied.

"I'm telling you I thought it was going to kill me!" the woman shrieked.

"Doesn't look as if it's done a lotta damage round here." Hagrid responded. "Where'd ya say ya saw it again?" he asked.

"I was right here. I was putting away these books and I saw its eyes staring at me from that chair." she said, pointing emphatically.

"Well it ain' in the chair anymore, but I'll sees if I can fin' somethin'." Hagrid promised. He looked around the library as well as one can when not sure what they're looking for. He worked his way around the room starting nearest the door while the librarian sat on top of her desk as though a slight change in elevation would offer infinite protection. Arian watched the large man walk down every aisle, peer under every table and in every chair. Eventually he made his way over to the shelves where Arian lay. He looked up at the top of the shelf and made eye contact with Arian. Then, he smiled.

"Irma, I think I foun' yer monster." he said. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a treat, placing it on the shelf in front of her. " 'ello ther' li'le lady. Wha're you doin' all the way up 'ere?" he asked, petting her while she chewed.

"You found it? Well kill it!" the elderly librarian called.

"Oh I don' think I will. Professor Snape'd be right mad at me if'n I did." he said, scooping Arian off the shelf and holding her to his chest. Arian sneezed as his beard tickled her nose.

"Professor Snape? Why?" she asked, still at a safe distance. Hagrid came out into the open center of the library again, holding Arian to him with one hand while using the other to pet her.

"'e's put a lotta work inter this animal, an' I know 'e cares abou' 'er a great deal." the half-giant said, resisting the urge to laugh at the librarian.

"What's his fox doing in here in the first place?" she asked.

" Don' know, but I figure you scared 'er as much as she scared you." he laughed. "I'll jus' take 'er ou' a ways on my way back ou'side."

"As well you should, animals have no place in the library." the witch sniffed, straightening herself to her full height and assuming the mannerisms typical of the librarian.

"Err, righ' then." Hagrid said. Arian climbed up to ride on the large man's shoulder as he sauntered back down the corridor.

"Don' you mind 'er, li'le lady, she's all bark an' no bite. Jus' scared 'er a bit, ya did." he said to the fox. They walked a little ways in silence before coming upon the Potions Master coming down the corridor.

"Ah Professor! I do believe this b'longs t'you." Hagrid said, gesturing to Arian. He stopped walking, and the fox jumped gracefully to the ground before walking up to the Potions Master.

"Hagrid, what was she doing with you?" Severus asked.

"She were in the library, scarin' the daylights ou' a Irma Pince. Called me in 'ere t'rescue 'er. I was jus' takin' yer fox a few levels down, bu' it seems she wants ter go with you now." Hagrid said.

"Yes, well, thank you Hagrid." the Potions Master said. "Come along, Arian, we've been called to see the Headmaster." He started down the corridor again with the silver fox trotting at his side, black tail lifted slightly behind her.

"What the devil were you doing in the library? There's nothing for you to do there." Severus asked as they walked. As expected, he got no response. "You truly are an odd creature, Arian."

When they arrived in the Headmaster's office the old man gestured for Severus to sit. Arian sat on the floor at his feet.

"Severus, I wanted to tell you this alone so that the others would not be subjected to the outrage likely to come." Albus began. Severus tapped his fingers against the arms of the chair; this wasn't likely to be good if Albus expected him to have a few choice words about it.

"Just tell me, Albus." he said.

"A few weeks ago I finally told Mr Potter and Mr Weasley of Miss Granger's death. While they had a hard time of it at first, they've planned a memorial service for Miss Granger. Everyone in the Order, and this includes you, will be in attendance at this service out of respect for Miss Granger." the old man said. He sat back, clearly expecting to see the Potions Master's blood boil.

"When is this event to be?" he asked. Albus looked shocked.

"Tomorrow evening at Grimmauld Place, in the library as that was Miss Granger's favorite room. I must say I'm proud of you Severus, I expected you to fight with me about being required to attend."

"Headmaster if you think that I am so cruel that I do not recognize the great loss posed by Miss Granger's death then you are sorely mistaken. She would have been a great asset to the Order and the Wizarding world. I will attend her service along with everyone else. I doubt you'll have any issues convincing anyone." Severus replied.

"Thank you, Severus. You may go now." Albus said. The Potions Master rose to his feet and strode out of the office, precious fox hot on his heels.

The following day Severus dressed in his crisp black teaching robes. After dinner he clipped Arian's leash to her collar and led her off Hogwarts grounds. Several of the professors had left for the memorial even before dinner, or in the afternoon to help with preparations. It would be uncharacteristic for the Potions Master to be anything other than precisely on time. He and Arian walked to the front gates of Hogwarts and stepped just outside. Then, he picked up his beloved fox and Apparated to the stoop outside Grimmauld Place.

Arian was confused. Normally in the evening she and the black man would relax. His body seemed anything but relaxed today. He was stiff and short-tempered. Arian did her best to behave, sticking close during the walk. She hated it when he Apparated. It made her sick to her stomach every time. Fortunately, after the first time she'd been sick on him, the dark man had learned to put her down immediately upon reaching their destination. This time he set her down on warm concrete. After a moment to allow her stomach to settle, Arian looked up at him. He opened the door, and she passed through it just ahead of him.

This home was yet another place that seemed oddly familiar. Remembering her leash, Arian quelled her desire to explore, to see if she could figure out what was so familiar about it. The dark man led her into a room on the ground floor. There were loads of people packed into this room and standing all along the edges. In front were an array of flowers and a photo of a pretty young woman. The photo smiled cheerfully at them. The dark man took the only seat still available, in the front row next to the old man. Arian sat at his feet, observing everything.

"Thank you all for being her today. It means a lot to Ron and I that so many of you were able to come. We're here to remember a great friend, Hermione Granger, who has been missing now for a year. No one knows what happened to Hermione, but it is unlikely that she is still alive." Harry Potter said, choking a little on the words. He took a couple of calming breaths and continued, "When Ron and I first met Hermione we were on the train to Hogwarts our first year. She came right into our compartment and boldly asked, 'Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one.'" The group chuckled. Neville blushed a bit and murmured something to Luna Lovegood beside him who was dabbing her eyes.

"We didn't really become friends with Hermione until after Halloween of that year, after we'd successfully saved her from the mountain troll that Professor Quirrell had let into the castle. We were only able to defeat the troll though by hitting it over the head with its own club, using a spell we'd only just learned. _Wingardium Leviosa_. Hermione had been the one who helped me to perfect it." Ron said.

"After that night we were thick as thieves. We even got the nickname _The Golden Trio_. It was no secret to anyone that Hermione was the brains of the operation. She was the one who was able to brew the Polyjuice Potion second year. She even managed to provide us with answers when she was Petrified in the Hospital Wing. She tried to keep us out of trouble as much as possible, which was never an easy task." Harry continued.

"In addition to keeping our adventures as contained as possible, Hermione helped us loads with our schoolwork. She made us study for exams. She looked over our essays before we turned them in. She even created Dumbledore's Army and coerced Harry into teaching it when she thought our Defense lessons were inadequate. She read absolutely everything, and her vast knowledge was helpful a lot, even though we teased her about it to no end." Ron said.

"We'd like to share some of our Hermione memories with you, and then invite you to share some of your memories of Hermione." Harry said.

"My personal favorite Hermione memory was one of very few times that I actually remember Hermione making a mistake. It was in second year. Hermione had been brewing Polyjuice Potion in Moaning Myrtle's lavatory. Wow, I just realized that Harry and I have spent inordinate amounts of time in girl's loos with Hermione. Anyway, we were getting ready to take the potion. Harry and I had nicked hair from Crabbe and Goyle that evening, while Hermione, ever the planner, had taken hair weeks before from Millicent Bulstrode's robes. We all swallowed our potions and ran into different stalls, hoping not to vomit. Harry and I transformed, but when we went to see her, Hermione refused to come out of her stall. Come to find out later that the hair she'd taken was actually that of a cat. Fur, whiskers, even a tail, Hermione had it all. We had to take her down to the Hospital Wing straight away to get her sorted. It still makes me laugh to think about it." Ron recounted. He and Harry then seated themselves and, after a few moments, Ginny Weasley stood.

"Hermione was my roommate in the summers and over school breaks. Almost every year she ended up spending at least part of the summer at the Burrow, then here at Grimmauld Place. Hermione was rather like the sister that I never had. No one has mentioned yet how driven Hermione could become about things, not just schoolwork, but social issues as well. When she learned about house elves Hermione was horrified. She decided to try single-handedly to free every one of Hogwarts house elves, so that she could campaign for their equal treatment, fair wages, and work benefits. Everyone in Gryffindor at the time will remember S.P.E.W. She would knit all evening- hats, socks, scarves, anything. She would hide it all in places where a house elf might accidentally grab it when cleaning up the common room at night. It got so bad that they wouldn't come near the space. Eventually, Harry, Ron and I realized that we weren't going to succeed in trying to talk her out of this project, so we just stayed up longer than she did so that we could gather up everything she'd hidden and burn it all. Harry told the elves what we were doing, so they started to clean the common room again. The house elves never trusted Hermione though. They always looked at her suspiciously whenever we went into the kitchens for anything." Ginny said. The group laughed again. There were many others who got up to speak about Hermione- first other friends with stories to tell, Neville talking about how Hermione tutored him in almost every subject and generally pushed him through Potions classes, then there were Professors who shared stories of Hermione in class and the endless battle to challenge her, then came Order members telling of conversations held with Hermione.

Hours later the group was silent, but it was a happy sort of silence, not sad. They had laughed until they'd cried remembering their dear friend and student. Severus Snape had not gotten up to speak, one of few that hadn't, but no one had been surprised about that. He really didn't have anything to add that the others hadn't already covered several times over. Arian sat placidly at his feet. She'd listened to each person, but she just kept staring at that photograph, smiling back at her. The girl looked so very familiar.

It was late when they got back to Hogwarts. The dark man went straight to bed. Arian stayed up a while longer, staring at the dying embers in the fire. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something.

That night Arian had a rough night. When she finally went to sleep, she dreamed vividly and rapidly- flashes of the girl from the service, memories that had been mentioned and more. Then she relived an attack on her home and her capture by the fiendish Lucius Malfoy. She felt again the pain of her torture as he tried to force her out of her Animagus form. Finally, she remembered her months as a fox. She was the girl from the picture. She was the one they had all been talking about. She wasn't dead at all.

That morning, as the first rays of light stretched hesitantly over the horizon, Hermione Granger woke up.

AN: I hope you guys liked it. I thought this would be an interesting way for her to realize her situation. I apologize for my Hagrid- I'm sure the speech isn't right. I usually don't write Hagrid because I hate writing his dialect, and I hate it even more when I read bad Hagrid dialect in other fanfics. I thought I'd try it though because I needed his character and I've been gorging myself on Potter for the last week or so. Anyway, next chapter you get to peek into Hermione's brain. How is she going to deal with all of this? What is Professor Snape going to think?

AN2: Sorry for taking so long to update. I changed operating systems, and the new one wouldn't support by Office Suite. This chapter was already written, but I couldn't open it for proofing or uploading, nor could I write any new chapters. Finally my new Office Suite came in, so I'm updating just as quickly as I can.


	12. Chapter 12

Silver- mypseudonym

Chapter 12

Hermione Granger sat on the rug in front of the fire in Severus Snape's personal quarters wearing some basically destroyed pajamas and trying to remember how to breathe. She flexed her fingers and toes. Physically, she was fine. Everything that Snape had done to take care of her in fox form had translated to her human self. Mentally she was overwhelmed. Her brain was on fire. How had she survived? How had she gotten so stuck in her Animagus form? How was she going to tell people?

The young woman took a few deep breaths. Resolving to settle one question at a time, she turned to look at the doorway that led to Severus Snape's bedroom. He'd closed the door only halfway so that the fox, she, could come in as she pleased. Hermione thought of what she knew about Severus Snape. He was a very different person from what she'd encountered as a student; she'd been able to see that in the months that he'd cared for her. He was strict, yes, but it was necessary to keep order in such a dangerous classroom. He favored his own house, but that was partially a front for the Dark Lord. In the time she'd been with him she'd seen that he was fair, that he was loyal, and that he could be very kind. He was sarcastic, yes, but he did have a sense of humor when approached correctly.

There were very few people that Severus Snape was close to, and she, as a fox, had been admitted to that number. She'd promised herself once that she'd do whatever she could for that man, and she renewed that promise now. She and Severus Snape would be friends. Right now though, she couldn't just deprive him of his favorite pet, his beloved fox. Having no idea how to present herself to the Wizarding world again, Hermione resolved to put it off for a while. She would stay primarily in her fox form while she determined what it was that she was going to do.

As for figuring out how she survived, she owed that primarily to Snape. It was a miracle she'd survived as long as she did, but she would have died shortly had the professor not healed her. As for how she'd come to be trapped in her Animagus form for so long, a little research could solve that. She'd have to be careful, researching only when the castle was quiet. Fortunately, she had all summer before things really got busy again. The castle was on a skeleton crew all summer as only a few of the professors were inclined to live here year-round, Severus being one of them.

She heard a noise and swiftly changed back to her Animagus form. She turned to see Severus Snape standing in the doorway looking thoroughly nonthreatening in a pair of black boxers and a Muggle t-shirt, his hair ruffled by sleep and his eyes squinty.

"Arian, come on. It's bedtime." he said gruffly, his voice husky with sleep. He turned and walked back into the room. Having to remind herself that she'd never hesitated before, Hermione trotted into his room and jumped up on her former professor's bed. He was stretched out on his stomach looking at her. He lifted one hand and ruffled her ears when she lay down. "Good girl." he muttered before falling asleep.

No, Hermione thought, she definitely couldn't just spring this on him. She curled up on the other side of the bed and soon found herself drifting to sleep.

The next morning Hermione woke slightly confused, but she looked down at her paws and remembered that she had decided to remain in her Animagus form. She stretched languidly before realizing that she was alone in Snape's bed. She heard the shower running.

_Snape must be in the shower._ she thought, _How long has it been since I had a shower? I would love to shower and brush my teeth._ She resolved to try to tend to her personal hygiene today if possible. After breakfast she had her first opportunity. She was walking back with Snape, trotting pleasantly by his heels when he stopped and looked down at her.

"Alright, Arian, I'm going to be brewing for a few hours this morning, so I think you'd probably rather not hang around with me. Come find me at lunchtime, and don't you get into too much mischief today." he said. Hermione understood every word. She knew that while before today she'd understood at least parts of what he was saying, this was the first time she'd had enough human faculties about her to comprehend all of it.

Severus was shocked that, after he finished talking to Arian she seemed to nod and scampered away down a different corridor. She'd never reacted that quickly before when he'd spoken to her. Usually she'd try to follow him for a bit, sometimes right up to the lab door before she would turn away. 'She's an odd creature.' he thought to himself.

_Okay, first up, clean clothes. Where can I find some clean clothes? Wait; if Hogwarts has just been emptied of students, then there must still be a stash of clothing items that students left behind. It's probably somewhere near the laundry._ she thought. She scurried through the lower levels of the school until she got close to the laundry area. The laundry room itself was quiet for once. She remembered seeing a clothing hamper out in Snape's rooms, so maybe the house elves didn't do laundry constantly during the summer as they did during the school year. She followed the smell of clean laundry to a closet. Checking to make sure that no one was around, Hermione changed back into her human form, opened the door quickly, and stepped inside locking the door behind her.

The closet was full of clothing, sorted by house and year. As she was a fully-grown woman, Hermione skipped the clothes belonging to girls younger than sixth year. There was very little chance she'd find something that fit there. Pretty soon, Hermione found a pair of jeans originally belonging to a seventh year Ravenclaw. She matched that with a brassiere from a seventh year Hufflepuff and a clean pressed white shirt from a fifth year Gryffindor boy. Socks she pulled from a box on the floor, and she managed to find a decent looking pair of trainers that didn't hurt her feet. Wadding up her torn and dirty pajamas, Hermione shoved them into a back corner of the closet. She pressed an ear to the door to make sure that no one was around before she opened it, closed it, and transformed back into her fox form. She already felt better just having new clothes.

The only problem was that she didn't want to stop at new clothes. Hermione really wanted a shower.

_How to get a shower without getting caught… Well, if I go to any of the student bathrooms it would be quite suspicious, as no one should be showering in one of those at this time of year. I don't know if they have a way to detect water usage, but I'm sure the sound would be plainly obvious,_ she thought. She walked for a while before something dawned on her. _Of course! I just had to put the pieces together! Snape said he would be brewing this morning, and he didn't mention anything until lunch. That means he's probably going to be brewing for a while. His rooms are warded to recognize me, and he clearly has a shower as he was using it this morning!_

Having no idea what time it was, Hermione hurried as much as she could back to Snape's chambers. She knew how to let herself in by touching her paw to a certain spot on the floor, as she'd done it many times before. A quick look around verified that he was indeed not here. Hermione transformed as soon as she got back into his bedroom. She practically skipped into the bathroom with delight. For once Hermione was grateful for the meticulous cleanliness Severus Snape enforced on his classes- his bathroom was as spotless as the rest of his quarters. She looked around carefully as she stripped out of the new clothes. She would need to be sure that everything was put back just as it was when she came in.

When she turned the taps and the water cascaded over her skin, Hermione felt as though she finally could tackle everything. She washed off the dirt and dried blood that had marked her time spent in captivity. She washed her hair until it picked up the sandalwood in Snape's shampoo. For the first time ever, Hermione actually did rinse and repeat several times. When she was finished, she wrapped herself in a gloriously soft black towel from the top of the dirty laundry. She knew that he was the type of person who would count his towels, so she decided to reuse the one he'd used that morning. People were clean by the time they got out of the shower, and even so she'd still be much cleaner than she was. Hermione redressed and dried the bathtub by hand.

When she was convinced that the toilet was just as it had been when she entered, Hermione opened the door and stepped out once again in her fox form. Since her hair had been wet, her fur was now damp. She padded out into the living area and lay before the fire to dry off. That was where Snape found her an hour later, napping.

"Arian? Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling on the floor in front of her. It was incredibly unusual for the fox to be sleeping so much. He'd not seen her sleep so much since he first got her.

Hermione woke up when Snape walked in, but she was still a bit groggy from her nap. Before she knew it, he was beside her, stroking her head and asking her worried questions. She just stood up, yawned and stretched thoroughly.

"Well, you seem to be okay now. Do you want to eat?"

Hermione perked up at the mention of food. She was quite hungry actually. She trotted happily to the door.

"I'll take that as a yes. Alright, let's go get some lunch." the Potions Master responded. He gave her a bowl of animal food in the Great Hall. It was barely tolerable.

That night Hermione curled up on the Potions Master's bed. She needed to go do some research, but that could wait until tomorrow. Right now, she was tired. She was a little surprised she was tired, since she'd napped on and off for most of the day, but she was able to sleep through the night.

When Severus Snape woke the next morning Arian was still asleep beside him. He got up, showered and dressed all without waking her. Something was wrong. He tabled everything he had been planning for the morning. He needed to find out what was wrong with Arian.

When Hermione woke up she realized at once that Severus was not there. She grew a little concerned until she heard a shuffling sound coming from the other room. Her brain was a bit foggy, so it took her a moment to recognize the sound of pages turning in a book. She jumped off the bed and walked into the living area. Severus Snape was sitting in the middle of the floor with three different books open. She walked over to look- one appeared to be a guidebook open to the chapter on foxes, another was a medical text, the third was a spellbook of home remedies and basic diagnostics spells. This was the one he was currently paging through. After a moment he looked up at her.

"Arian, come." he said, putting out his hand. Hermione knew that Arian was her name, Silver in Welch. She walked obediently over to him. "Lie down" he instructed. She lay sedately on the floor in front of him. Hermione had no idea what he was going to do to her, but she trusted him implicitly. She only hoped he hadn't figured out her secret.

The Potions Master withdrew his wand. The sleeves on his black button-up shirt were currently folded up to his elbows, so Hermione got a good view of his Dark Mark. She couldn't recall seeing it before, as its something that Death Eaters tended to keep hidden and not without good reason. She found though, that it didn't scare her. If anything it made her a little more determined to be Severus Snape's friend. Who knows how different his life would be now if he'd had good friends all the way through. She lay quietly while he cast spells over her, checking her vital signs, looking for broken bones, bleeding, or internal complaints. He was searching for anything that would explain her lethargy of late.

Finding nothing, Severus Snape rolled down his sleeves, picked her up, and carried her out of his chambers. He carried her all the way to the Hospital Wing.

"Poppy? Are you here?" he called out to the empty wing

"Yes, Severus, what's wrong?" the medi-witch asked, coming out of her office. There was very little need for her during the summers, so Madame Pomfrey used the time to catch up on her filing.

"I think there's something wrong with Arian." he said, setting the fox down on a bed and gesturing for her to stay down.

"Severus, I don't do animals. You'd be better off talking to Hagrid." she said.

"Could you just look at her, please? I checked for broken bones, internal bleeding, all the big stuff. There's nothing big wrong with her, but she's sleeping so much more lately, like when I first got her." he explained. Poppy stopped for two reasons- One, she hadn't heard Severus Snape ask for something for many years. Normally he just demanded what it was he needed or wanted. Two, she had never, in all the years she'd known him, heard Severus say the word please. Before she knew it she was at the side of the bed, waving her wand over a fox.

"You're right, there's nothing physically wrong with her, but I can't do much beyond check for major issues." the medi-witch said, stroking the fox lightly. Hermione was listening to everything they were saying, of course. She knew that she didn't feel poorly, but she also knew that she didn't feel quite 100%. She kind of wondered if they'd be able to find something.

"Well, what would you think it was if she were a student and came in complaining of falling asleep in class or in the middle of the afternoon, not having energy?" the Potions Master asked.

"Well, I'd probably ask if they were sleeping at night." Poppy said.

"She is." Snape replied.

"How do you know?"

"I'm not a heavy sleeper, and she sleeps in my bed." he explained. "If she wasn't asleep, she'd almost certainly wake me up."

"Alright, well, she may have just a cold or a little bug. Does she sneeze a lot or have any difficulty breathing?"

"No."

"Okay, maybe it's a nutritional issue. What do you feed her?" Poppy asked.

"I usually give her food from Magical Menagerie, plus she gets some table scraps from the Great Hall." he replied.

"Why don't you try giving her a full plate during meals in the Great Hall. I'd double check with Hagrid, but I don't think anything but chocolate would be harmful to her. If it's a nutritional deficit of some sort, she'd be drawn to those foods in particular. Try it for a couple of days and we'll see if she perks up. If it doesn't work I'll see about finding a magical veterinarian." Poppy said.

"Thank you, Poppy. As it's breakfast time, I'll start her on human food immediately." Severus said. He picked up his fox again and carried her down to the Great Hall. He set her down again in the chair next to where he normally sat.

The breakfast array at Hogwarts was always about the same- eggs, potatoes, sausages, fruits, and cereals. He took a plate and scooped some eggs onto it. He added some of the breakfast potatoes, and some sliced fruit. He put the plate down in front of Arian before loading up his own plate. He noticed that Arian was eating from her plate with gusto.

_Real food!_ Hermione's mind cheered. The flavors were amazing- it had been months since she'd had anything this good. It was hard to remember not to eat too fast. The last thing she wanted to do was make herself sick. It still only took her a few minutes to finish all of the food and lick the plate clean. She looked up to see Snape spearing a link of sausage on his fork, and she let out an involuntary whimper. The Potions Master looked down and seemed genuinely shocked that she'd finished all of her food. He didn't really expect her to eat fruit, as foxes are generally considered carnivores.

"I take it you want a sausage?" he asked. Hermione whimpered again, shuffling her feet a little. He chuckled a little and put the link down on her plate. Hermione quickly figured out how to eat it and swallowed the whole thing. After begging another sausage successfully, she was quite full. She lay in the chair patiently waiting for Snape to finish eating before following him out of the room.

Over the next week Hermione had a lot more energy. She spent the mornings while Snape was brewing in his quarters researching from his rather extensive collection. What he didn't have she managed to read up on in a few midnight visits to the library while he was asleep. She continued to get human food at every meal, and she was grateful not to have to eat the pet food anymore. Snape had tried to give her a treat once, but after she declined he simply laughed and called her a brat before ruffling her ears.

Hermione was starting to understand what had happened to her, though there weren't many people in the world who had similar experiences, so there wasn't just a whole lot to go on. She knew now that she was functioning just as though she were normal and using her Animagus form. She had only the most powerful of animalistic urges, like her daily sprints through the castle and the desire to chase any smaller animal she encountered. Other than that she could understand what everyone around her was saying, and she'd not had any difficulty switching out of fox form when she so desired.

At the end of June she could tell that something was up with Severus, but he hadn't talked to anyone about it, not even her. He was corresponding with someone, and it didn't appear that he liked the way things were going. Finally, one evening, she got to find out what had been bothering him.

"I have to go to a conference tomorrow, Arian. I'll be gone for two weeks, and I can't take you with me." He explained sadly, petting her as she lay beside him on the couch. "It's a Potions conference obviously, but they want me to present some of my methods developed secretly during the war- ways to shorten brewing times, ingredient switches that make particular potions more effective, that sort of thing. It should be a great honor, but I'm not looking forward to it." He explained. "I don't mind teaching, but lecturing adults, especially other skilled masters, is beyond my comfort zone."

_But you held your own among the Order and in Voldemort's ranks. A room of old Potions Masters should be nothing._ She thought.

"I know I'm noted for my duplicity in the war effort, but I didn't really have to talk to people. Mostly I was there to sit or stand in the back, collecting information and making observations about people. This time I'll be at the front of hall. I'd feel better about it if they'd let me bring you, but the Head of the conference is adamant that I can't. He keeps spouting some rubbish about you 'contaminating the work space.'" He said. Hermione moved to rest her head on his knee comfortingly.

She felt bad for him, but Hermione couldn't help but think about how lovely it would be to be on her own for two whole weeks. She could spend more than an hour in human form without worry of exposure. She could maybe even sneak out of the castle. It would be immensely helpful.

AN: When the cat's away, the mice will play… what's our dear heroine to do? Thank you all for the lovely reviews, they do help me keep motivated to write.


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